Campaign for Bijepur by-poll ends, BJD again targets union minister Dharmendra Pradhan

BHUBANESHWAR: War of words between the BJD and BJP intensified even as campaigning for the by-poll to the Bijepur assembly constituency ended today with the regional outfit again targeting union minister for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan by demanding that his movements should be kept under surveillance.

Lodging a strong protest with the chief electoral officer (CEO), a delegation of senior BJD leaders today alleged that inspite of their allegation of mobilisation of huge money from LPG distributors, petrol pumps and Chhattisgarh by the union minister for allegedly bribing voters to vote for the BJP candidate, no action has so far been taken.

The memorandum submitted by the BJD alleged that there has been no investigation so far on seizure of Rs 40.5 lakh from Akash Agrawal of Padampur and Rs 10.2 lakh from Suru Dandsena, cashier of Manigram and Co, BPCL Petrol Pump, Dunguripalli, defeating the very purpose of holding free and fair elections.

The BJD further alleged that Biswal Jay Jagannath Filling Station at Pada under Bijepur police station limits of Gatikrushna Mishra, who is a BJD sympathiser, was closed on the pretext of inspection only because the proprietor did not oblige Pradhan and come to meet when the latter entered petrol pump on February 19 night.

BJD vice-president and senior minister  Surjya Narayanan Patro, general secretary and MLA Pradeep Panigrahi,  Rajya Sabha member Pratap Keshari Deb, minister of state for tourism and culture Ashok Panda, BJD MLA Priyadarshi Mishra, mayor of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Ananta Narayan Jena and state secretary Bijaya Nayak were part of the delegation.

In a separate memorandum, the BJD reiterated its demand that transmission of voice calls intended for electoral advantage of BJP by tarnishing the image of the state government should be stopped and action should be initiated as per the provisions of electoral, cyber and criminal law.

Alleging that there is strong reasons to believe that the voice calls are the handiwork of the BJP, the memorandum alleged these contain derogatory remarks against chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik. Stating that as per rule every campaign material including voice calls should be approved by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the

BJD apprehended that no such approval has been taken in this instance which is violative of the model code of conduct.