Shoe Hurling At CM: BJD, BJP Indulge In Blame Game

Bhubaneswar: The BJD and the BJP on Wednesday blamed each other over the hurling of shoes at Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at a meeting in Barpali block in Odisha’s Bargarh district in the previous evening, even as mystery shrouded the political links of accused Kartik Meher.

While police officers have been singing different tunes of Meher’s political connections and alleged role of certain BJP leaders behind the incident, a section of the media has reported the youth’s alleged association with the RSS. According to media reports, Meher was a RSS cadre. Photographs of Meher sporting the RSS uniform of a white shirt and khaki shorts have also shown by certain media houses.

Inspector-in-charge of Padampur police station Jasobant Pradhani,who had earlier in the day said the accused had no political links, changed his version in the afternoon, saying he had no knowledge about Meher’s antecedents and had made off-the-cuff remarks based on hearsay. SDPO of Bargarh Sadar Suresh Nayak had on Tuesday quoted the accused of having said that he was instigated by BJP candidate Ashok Panigrahi and two other BJP leaders to throw shoes at Naveen. Panigrahi has denied the allegations.

A BJD delegation led by Minister Maheswar Mohanty and BJD general secretary Pradip Panigrahi met the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) at his office l and submitted a memorandum demanding action against the BJP for violating the Model Code of Conduct.

The delegation, apart from demanding the arrest of BJP candidate Ashok Panigrahi for his alleged complicity in the shoe hurling incident, alleged that Union Minister Smriti Irani had lured the voters with money during her visit to Bijepur constituency on Tuesday.

The delegation urged the CEO to issue directive to the police to stop the entry of BJD renegade Bulu Pradhan of Mahanga in Cuttack district to Bijepur constituency. It also demanded that since BJP spokesperson Pitambar Acharya and party member Aparajita Mohanty are using helicopter in Bijepur for poll campaign, their travel expenses be included in the poll expenditure of the party candidate Ashok Panigrahi.

Another BJD delegation led by Puri MP Pinaki Mishra met the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in New Delhi and apprised him of the shoe-hurling incident.

Briefing media persons after the meeting, Mishra said the CEC, while expressing grave concern, informed that he has sought a detailed report from the CEO about the incident.

He said the delegation also alleged before the CEC that the BJP is luring the voters in Bijepur with money.

The BJP, however, denied all allegations, countering that the police men were working as “BJD workers”. “The police is not acting in an impartial manner and serving the BJD like party workers. How could SDPO Suresh Nayak come to know about BJP’s involvement without any investigation. The BJP has lodged a complaint with the DGP in this regard and demanded strong action,” a party release said.