Bhubaneswar: In the wake of miscreants creating ruckus at the residence of BJD leader Pratap Jena, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Odisha Assembly Naveen Patnaik on Saturday strongly condemned the incident and demanded immediate action against those involved.
The incident allegedly took place late Friday night, raising serious concerns about law and order in the state.
In a post on X, Naveen described the attack as a direct assault on democracy. He alleged that those who used money power to influence the recent Rajya Sabha elections orchestrated the violence through hired miscreants. He said the incident was not isolated but reflected a broader collapse of governance and law enforcement.
“The armed assault on Pratap Jena’s house is a shameful example of misrule and deteriorating law and order,” the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) p
resident said.
Naveen demanded immediate and strict action against the culprits and urged the Chief Minister to intervene to restore order in the state. He said democracy cannot survive under the shadow of violence and intimidation.
Meanwhile, Pratap Jena has come under sharp attack from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the incident. Odisha BJP spokesperson Manoj Mohapatra raised questions over Jena’s stay in government quarters despite not being an MLA.
Mohapatra sought to know as to how Jena was residing there, and further raised concerns over how the former Minister was staying in the quarters allotted to MLA Prasant Behera.
As per information, around 15 to 20 youth gathered outside Jena’s residence on Friday night and created a disturbance. Jena claimed that some of those involved were among individuals who had earlier been suspended. He also alleged that the BJP was behind the incident.
Rejecting the allegations, Manoj Mohapatra said the incident was a result of internal conflict within the BJD.
ollowing the incident, police from the Capital Police Station visited Jena’s residence on Saturday and launched an investigation. Security has also been tightened outside his house by the Commissionerate Police.