By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: BJD on Friday accused Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan of encouraging a woman journalist to hit Odisha’s Agriculture Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain during his campaign for Padampur bypoll slated for December 5 and the ruling BJD sought “ action against the senior BJP leader.
Union Minister Pradhan was heard saying in the video clip during the campaigning “ଶତରୁପା, ତତେ ରାଜା ଧକା ମାଇଲା !! ତୁ ମାଇଲୁନି !! ଲାଗ ଲାଗ, ତା ସାଙ୍ଗରେ ଆଉ ଟିକେ ଭଲକି ଲାଗ ” . This video had gone viral in facebook and twitter like social media sites.
A delegation of the ruling party submitted to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) a memorandum to that effect along with a pen drive, which reportedly had video proof of Pradhan encouraging the television journalist to attack the Odisha minister, popularly known as Raja Swain.
Claiming that the party came across the video on social media, the BJD delegation, led by MP Sasmit Patra and spokesperson Lenin Mohanty, called for immediate action against Pradhan.
Both Swain, campaigning for BJD candidate Barsha Singh Bariha in Padampur, and Pradhan, canvassing for BJP nominee Pradeep Purohit in the assembly segment, were not available for comment.
The voting for Padmapur byepolls will be conducted from 7 am to 4 pm on December 5 and the counting of votes and declaration of results will be conducted on December 10. It may be noted here that the by-election was necessitated following the death of sitting BJD MLA Bijaya Ranjan Singh Bariha on October 3.
