Bhubaneswar: Industries Minister Sampad Swain has ridiculed BJD president and former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s post on deteriorating law and order in Odisha, following the alleged attack on former Dharmasala MLA Pranab Kumar Balabantaray at Aruha village in Jajpur district on Sunday.
“The BJD needs a reality check on its 25-year rule when the state witnessed Mahanga double murder, Itishree, Bebina, and Mamita cases. What was the state of law and order then?” he questioned.
Calling Naveen’s post laughable, Swain further claimed that the attack on Balabantaray was carried out by BJD workers, pointing to dissent and failure of discipline within the party. “This should make Naveen Babu reflect on the collapse of discipline within his own party, which is on the path of destruction and will soon cease to exist. The BJD has no future and the defiance against the leadership within the party is out in the open,” he added.
Naveen had condemned the attack on Balabantaray, stating that it was a reflection of the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. ”If public representatives are unsafe, it raises serious concern about the safety of common citizens. Police should take suo motu action against the attackers after examining video footage of the incident which has gone viral,” he wrote on X, while alleging that the incident took place in the presence of police.
Balabantaray was attacked and his car vandalised by some club-wielding youths on Sunday afternoon while he was on his way to attend a religious ceremony at the village. He later accused local MLA Himanshu Sekhar Sahoo for the attack, alleging that the latter was patronising such elements and forcing police not to take any action against them.
Sahoo, who is currently out of the state, dismissed the allegations. He instead claimed that this attack was the result of a dispute between two groups within BJD.
