Bhubaneswar, March 3 (IANS) In protest of the alleged police excesses on its youth wing activists during a recent rally, the BJP in Odisha on Friday filed complaints in different police stations across the state.
To counter it, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) staged a demonstration here over the LPG price hike.
The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activists engaged in a scuffle with the police personnel while they were marching towards the Assembly on February 28 over the alleged deteriorating law and order situation, including the murder of minister Naba Das.
Following the face-off, 22 BJYM activists, including state president Irasish Acharya were arrested.
Though the BJP has lodged a complaint at a Bhubaneswar police station on the same night, the police were yet to register a case in this regard.
Hence, the BJP leaders and workers took out protest rallies in different places of Odisha, including capital city Bhubaneswar on Friday, and lodged complaints in the police stations against the DGP, the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar twin city police commissioner and the Bhubaneswar DCP.
“The BJD government was on the back foot over rising crime and a deteriorating law and order situation in Odisha. It was exposed when minister Naba Das was murdered in broad daylight. To divert the attention of people from the murder case, the police resorted to violence during the BJYM protest,” said BJP leader Pinky Pradhan.
The saffron party has also decided to stage demonstrations in front of all Superintendent of Police offices across the state on March 4. If no case is registered on the ‘police excess’, the BJP will knock on the doors of the court.
On the other hand, the women’s wing of the ruling BJD has staged a protest against the LPG price hike here before the Raj Bhawan.
BJD leader and Bhubaneswar mayor Sulochana Das said the price of one domestic LPG cylinder (14.2 kg cylinder) has been increased from Rs 410 in 2014 to Rs 1,129 now.
However, the Odisha BJP leaders, instead of requesting their government at the centre to reduce the price, are creating law and order problems in the state, she alleged.
–IANS
bbm/pgh
