: As the BJD Government is on the back foot over the
Archana Nag honey-trapping and blackmailing issue, the opposition BJP and Congress are making the most of it during the campaigning for the November 3 Dhamnagar Assembly by-election. The BJD, however, said it is going to the electorate by highlighting the developmental initiatives of CM Naveen Patnaik.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who on the sidelines of reviewing the poll strategy of the BJP, announced that women are exasperated with the growing incidents of sexual harassment in the State and the BJD would bear the brunt of it in Dhamnagar.
“Be it the Nimapara Dharmendra Sahoo suicide issue or the despicable incident (honey-trapping) in Bhubaneswar in which over 50 State ruling party leaders and many top bureaucrats and rich and influential people are involved, they all show the able administration of the State Government. The people of the State, especially women, are angered by such incidents. In the past, the party (Congress) that was in power in the State for a long time was also arrogant but the Anjana Mishra incident had changed the Government,” said Pradhan.
Pradhan exuded confidence that the voters of Dhamnagar would support BJP candidate Suryavanshi Suraj as he is the son of late leader Bishnu Sethi besides being an educated and strong youth leader of the area.
BJP State general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan sought to know why School and Mass Education Minister and Nimapara MLA and his agents were collecting huge sums of money from the deceased ZP Member Dharmendra.
Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati said his party would raise the honey trap and blackmailing issue in the upcoming session of the State Assembly.
The BJD, however, claimed that the party would win the byelection smoothly by making the developmental programmes of party supremo and CM Naveen Patnaik as its poll plank. Countering Minister Pradhan that the BJD was using the Government machinery and money power to win the election, Revenue Minister Pramilla Mallick said people know who has money power.
“There is good response from the voters in Dhamnagar for BJD candidate Abanti Das due to CM Naveen Patnaik’s pro-people and developmental programmes. So the BJD would win the election by a margin of 25,000-30,000 votes,” she said.