Bhubaneswar: Leader of Opposition Jayanarayan Mishra on Friday slammed Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik for calling BJP an ‘anti-women’ party.
He was reacting to Naveen’s statement on how he was pained by the way a section of BJP leaders humiliated grieving Barsha Singh Bariha, who registered a spectacular victory in the recently concluded Padampur by-election.
“We humbly accept the results of the Padmapur election. In a democracy, public opinion is paramount. But I condemn the way the Chief Minister made a political statement through a video message,” Jayanarayan tweeted.
He further said that had BJP been anti-women, Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not have been able to establish himself as Pradhan Sevak of the country.
Referring to BJP’s win in Dhamnagar, he added: “We would have not polled over 78,000 votes in that bypoll if the party was disrespectful towards women.”
In a thanksgiving video message to the people of Padampur for electing Barsha, Naveen said he stepped out to campaign at Padampur after a gap of 3 years to stand by Barsha’s side as a father figure, brother and friend. “I was deeply pained by the disrespect shown to a highly educated woman of tender age, who is still in mourning her father’s death,”
He said that it was sorrowful not just for him but for all women of Odisha. “I want to tell BJP that people of Odisha will never support disrespect to women,” he added.
Notably, BJD had moved the chief electoral officer and the State Commission of Women accusing Jayanarayan of making derogatory remarks against Barsha. Former Union Minister Jual Oram had also questioned Barsha’s marriage in a non-tribal community.
Another BJP leader Aparajita Sarangi had also targeted Barsha, saying that she is the daughter-in-law of Puri’s Satyabadi and does not belong to Padampur. “Her responsibility is towards Satyabadi. How the daughter of Padampur’s daughter can serve here after marriage? She can upset her in-laws by doing so. Had she contested from Satyabadi, I could have also campaigned for her,” the Bhubaneswar MP told the media.
