Odisha BJP Demands Labour Minister’s Resignation For ‘Sexual Abuse’ Of BJD Worker

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha unit of BJP on Friday demanded resignation of Labour Minister Srikant Sahu for the allegation of sexual abuse levelled against him by a woman activist of BJD.

Speaking to media persons at party headquarters in Bhubaneswar, BJP state general secretary Lekhashri Samantsinghar said the woman victim had to wait in Bhubaneswar Mahila police station from 10 am till midnight on Thursday to file her complaint against the minister. Finally, the police filed a case and sent her for medical examination.

“Since the complaint has been filed against the minister, he should resign on moral ground. If he fails to do so, the BJD should remove him from his post. Otherwise, he may misuse his power to put pressure on the police to suppress the case,” said Lekhashri.

Lamenting that the police were yet to initiate any action on the complaint filed by the woman, Lekhashri demanded investigation by an impartial agency into the incident.

Targeting Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, she said though he has been speaking on respect for women, many of his Cabinet colleagues have been found embroiled in controversies related to women. In this regard, the BJP leader cited the cases of teacher Mamita Meher murder, Mahanga triple murder and Tirtol sex racket.

“We all know that though the involvement of minister Dibyashankar Mishra in the Mamita Meher murder, minister Pratap Jena in Mahanga Triple murder and Tirtol MLA Bijay Shankar Das in sex racket cases cropped up, the police did not even question them,” she added.

Alleging that the ruling BJD leaders were pressurising the woman victim to withdraw the case by issuing threat and alluring with money, Lekhashri said several senior leaders of the ruling party were present in the woman’s police station to convince her.

The BJP leader said the women in the state were not safe under the BJD rule as was evident from the exploitation of a woman worker who has been serving the party for the last 20 years.