The BJP on Saturday said it would stage a massive dharna at the Raj Bhawan here on July 4 in protest against the BJD’s recent attack on two Union Ministers, Santosh Gangwar and Sadhvi Niranjana Jyoti, at Bargarh and demanded that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik tender an apology in public as the ruling party’s attack has stained Odisha’s name in the country.
“BJD leaders had preplanned the attack on the Union Ministers and Jharkhand former Chief Minister Arjun Munda. Instead of taking action on the errant leaders, the Chief Minister has extended moral support to them. Announcement of an RDC-level probe and seeking of report in 60 long days all reveal that the CM is the villain. As the act has stained Odisha’s name in the country, the CM should tender an unconditional apology,” demanded BJP MlA Pradeep Purohit.
Purohit alleged that the police knowingly diverted the convoy of the Union Ministers to another route as the BJD had preplanned the attack.
“The Chief Minister has been baffled over exposure of his false Central negligence charges; his Government’s inefficiencies and ruling party leaders’ involvement in various scams and corruptions. To divert attention of people from these, the BJD had planned to attack the Ministers,” Purohit alleged further. He called party workers and common people to participate in the proposed dharna and ask the Chief Minister for a reply as to why he ‘stained Odisha’s name in the country’.