Bhubaneswar: Hours after BJP leader Sambit Patra termed the suspension of Chilika Prashant Jagdev from BJD as drama, Puri MP Pinaki Mishra on Sunday clarified that the ‘reckless’ legislator was expelled from the party three months back.
The Opposition parties in Odisha have been targeting the ruling BJD after the Chilika MLA ploughed his SUV into a crowd outside the Banapur block development office on Saturday, leaving 22 people including 10 police personnel injured, and questioning inaction against him. “Why was Prashant Jagdev not expelled from BJD despite being involved in several kinds of violence? He was given all due importance in the party and also made to contest elections again,” questioned Patra.
Also Read: Odisha’s Banapur Incident: Chilika MLA Must Be Treated As Criminal, Says BJP Leader Sambit Patra
Notably, Jagdev, who has a history of unruly public behaviour, was suspended from the BJD after a video of his thrashing a BJP leader of his Chilika constituency went viral in September last year. In August 2020, a junior engineer had registered a complaint alleging that he had misbehaved with him. In 2016, too, he had landed himself in controversy for allegedly assaulting a lady tehsildar.
Also Read: Odisha MLA Drives SUV Into Crowd: Know Prashant Jagdev’s Past Police Cases
The BJD MP, however, told the news agency that Chief Minister and party president Naveen Patnaik’s views are stated clearly that the law will take its own course and nobody will be spared. “The BJP should look into the Lakhimpur Kheri incident before commenting,” he added.
The suspended BJD MLA has been booked for an attempt to murder and obstructing officers from discharging their duty, IG (central) Narasingha Bhol had informed on Saturday, adding that he would be arrested after being discharged from hospital.
Rajya Sabha member from BJD, Sasmit Patra, also asked the BJP not to unnecessarily politicise this barbaric incident. “We would like to remind the Odisha BJP that when a similar incident had taken place in their party ruled state, they had appealed not to politicize that issue and let the law take its course. But the Odisha BJP is taking another stand on this issue now. We appeal to the Odisha BJP not to indulge in double standards on such sensitive issues. Police had already issued a statement yesterday on the strictest action being taken against the Chilika MLA and we are sure that the accused will face the strictest punishment as per law of the land. Let us all allow the law of the land to prevail,” he added.
