Bhubaneswar: The BJD and BJP in the State have crossed the sword over the arrest of BJP nominee from Khordha Prashant Jagdev on charges of ransacking EVM at a booth in Begunia in Khordha district.
BJP’s sitting MP and candidate from Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha seat Aparajita Sarangi, has criticised the State government over poor law and order situation. The MP also posted CCTV footage of the incident on her social media site showing no role of Jagdev in the EVM vandalising.
“Under which circumstances, MLA Prashant Jagadev was arrested? I reached there 10 minutes after the incident and discussed with the voters and public present there. They all clarified that no one from them has seen the ransacking of the EVM by Prashant Jagdev. Our driver Banmali Babu had earlier revealed that three to four police officials pressurised him to give a statement that Jagdev vandalised the EVM,” Sarangi said at a press meet.
A sitting MLA is being arrested without making the CCTV footage universal. An MP was heckled from her car. What type of Law and order situation prevailing in the state, she asked.
“I obtained the CCTV footage and I was surprised after watching the video that Prashant Jagdev has no role in the vandalisation,” the BJP MP said.
Another person is involved in the incident, who will come to fore soon, she added.
The BJD, on the other hand, came down heavily on the BJP MP for shielding a goon.
At a press meet, BJD MP and spokesperson Sasmit Patra said “Odisha is being blamed all over the country for Prashant Jagdev. Why the BJP has embraced him as a candidate.”
Sasmit recalled that Prithviraj Harichandan had demanded that Prashant be arrested under NSA. Mohan Majhi also demanded the arrest of Prashant when he was involved in the murderous attack on a BJP worker. BJD had expelled him from the party, Patra said.
The Rajya Sabha MP questioned that why the BJP accepted him and gave him a ticket to contest election. Why BJP support him despite such violence by him?, Patra asked.
Notably, Chilika MLA Prashant Jagdev was arrested and sent to jail on the charges of “causing damage” toppling an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) during the third phase of polling held in Odisha on Saturday.
