Bhubaneswar: Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Tuesday locked horns over the alleged denial of security cover to Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan during his Malkangiri visit even as leading opposition Congress dubbed the slugfest as a trick to hide state and Centre’s failures in curbing death of children due to Japanese Encephalitis (JE).
Hitting out at the state government, the BJP alleged that denial of security to Pradhan was a ‘political conspiracy.’
“The government did not maintain the security protocol provided to a Union minister. We went around the affected areas without police personnel,” said BJP legislature party chief KV Singhdeo.
BJP state president Basanta Panda said their team started the visit from the BSF camp to Palakonda village during which there were only two police escort vehicles for the minister, which were pulled out after two km.
BJP also alleged that neither the collector nor SP met the minister at the behest of the BJD government.
Panda claimed that around 150 children have died due to JE while nearly 400 children have succumbed to other diseases like malaria, dengue and also fallen victim to malnutrition in last few months in the district.
Panda also took a dig at Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asking him as to why he has not visited the district till now.
However, hitting back at the saffron party, the ruling party alleged that BJP is trying to give the outbreak of disease a political colour and making an unsuccessful attempt in diverting public attention from the currency crisis which has emerged after Centre’s demonetisation move.
Congress leaders including legislator Prafulla Mallick targeted the state and Centre for their alleged failure to take required steps to contain JE.
The party claimed the two parties were indulging in political gimmickry to shift public focus from the burning issue.
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