Bhubaneswar: Odisha BJP has raised questions on the silence of BJD president Naveen Patnaik over the alleged police excess on agitating students in the Congress-backed JMM government in neighbouring Jharkhand.
In a video message Tuesday, state BJP spokesperson Anil Biswal asked, “Why is Naveen Babu silent over the police actions against students in Jharkhand? Isn’t it a hypocrisy? He had strongly reacted over the Jantar Mantar matter and is now silent.”
BJD reacted sharply and asked Biswal where he was when Gen-Z were demonstrating against the then Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at Jantar Mantar.
“Did Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi or BJP state president Manmohan Samal speak a word on it?” BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty asked.
Mohany said the former chief minister has made his stand very clear when he had said dialogue with the youth was necessary.
“Even in the case of Jharkhand or Odisha, LOP Naveen Patnaik’s stand is clear,” he said.
Meanwhile, Biswal pointed out that similar question paper leaks and student agitations were seen in states like Karnataka, Kerala and Punjab.
“In all such incidents, Naveen Babu and the Congress remain silent even as the BJD president claimed to be standing firmly with students across the country. He has made statements in the media and also posted reactions in social media over the Delhi issue, but is silent on the Jharkhand matter,” Biswal said.
Calling it a “double standard” of Patnaik and his party, Biswal alleged that the BJD president was unofficially going along with Congress and indicated that he would go with that party in future politics.
Odisha BJP also criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his silence in the Jharkhand matter.
“Police are attacking students under the Congress-backed JMM government. Where is Rahul Gandhi hiding now?” the party asked in its official X handle.
The saffron party alleged that when the students asked for accountability in examinations, the Jharkhand government responded with batons and tear gas.
Meanwhile, Odisha Congress demanded the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the police excesses on students in Delhi and asked Odisha’s Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond to quit his post for large-scale errors in the school textbooks in the state.
