By Anurjay Dhal
BHUBANESWAR: BJP Top Guns like in the office seal case of their Party’s Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha, MP Aparajita Sarangi, seems loves to enjoy equal-proximity with Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and preferring to keep mum as only State unit State general secretary Prithiraj Harichandan aired few light sentences , even after BJD top guns, mostly enjoying the confidence of CMO as well as Naveen Niwas, continued their attack on Saffron Party’s National VP Baijayant’Jay’ Panda and his model turned entrepreneur wife, Jagi Panda , who heads State’s No-1 OTV Channel.
So far Jay Panda, tweeted Odisha linking Pakistan, BJD MPs Anubhav Mohanty, Dr Sasmit Patra, Amar Patnaik, MLAs Pranab Prakash Das, Chandra Sarathi Behera and many more have took on Jay and Jagi while not a known figure of BJP came out in rescue of their Party’s National VP, making things clear that Party is distancing from him on this issue.
After severe criticism, Jay Panda shared a video clips having a phone in discussion with Arnab Goswami in Republic TV while justifying his innocence. “When @sasmitpatra failed to express his views on National Television, he decides to assume Odisha is being called Pakistan. Kuch na kuch toh bolna hi hai.. chup kaise baithe! Face with tears of joy,” OTV Operating Officer, Litisha Mangat tweeted @litisha_mangat.
Joining the BJD onslaught, “Nothing more shameful than comparing your own state with Pakistan. Colossal disrespect for the Odia culture and the people of Odisha. Hope better sense prevails and this of insult for the people of Kendrapara, the entire state stops here!,” BJD General secretary(Organisation) and MLA Pranab Prakash Das tweeted @pranabpdas.
“Extremely unfortunate that you equate people who voted for you as Pakistanis. Bewildering thought that 4.5 crore Odias seem like Pakistanis to you. A grave insult to Odias everywhere!,” BJD MLA Cuttack Sadar, Chandra Sarathi tweetd @chandra_sarathi.
Sharpening his attack , “Perhaps Mr.BP has forgotten that he was with the present State Government of Odisha for 18 long years out of his 20 years of political careerFace with tears of joy,Is this because of continuous failures & lockdownThinking faceThinking faceThinking faceThinking faceOR is it because of his fear of being exposed,” Kendrapara BJD Lok Sabha MP Anubhav Mohanty tweeted @AnubhavMohanty_. “Shame on few sold out heads who are still supporting the person who has shamelessly betrayed, insulted & abused our Motherland. Had Our Motherland been #Pakistan in reality then such #UngratefulKapoot would have been in Jahannum by now,” he said.
After his political arch rival and sitting MP, Mohanty, two more BJD MPs representing Upper House of Rajya Sabha, including Dr Sasmit Patra and Amar Patnaik, came down heavily on Jay Panda and his model turned entrepreneur wife Jagi Panda, who runs, OTV network.
While responding a tweet, “Very true @Amar4Odisha. It’s convenient that under the garb of media, OTV and its promoters Shri. Jay Panda and Smt. Jagi Panda are protecting the perpetrator OTV journalist who tarnished the image of the youngest MP of India, but then they go on to speak of freedom of expression,” BJD Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Sasmit Patra tweeted @sasmitpatra.
“Quite unfortunate that Shri. Jay Panda @PandaJay feels Odisha has become Pakistan, the same state that sent him to both houses of the Parliament. The same people of Kendrapara who ensured it. The same Tulasi Khetra. This is an insult to every Odia and to the Odia culture as well,” MP Dr Patra said.
“Please listen the youngest MP of India and my colleague Ms. Chandrani Murmu who is narrating the ordeal in Odia of how OTV, its promoters Mrs. Jagi Panda and Shri. Jay Panda are protecting the perpetrator OTV reporter who had viralled a morphed, obscene viral video of hers,” the Rajy Sabha MP sharing a video of his party’s Keonjhar Lok Sabha MP, Chandrani Murmu, said.
“Please listen to the youngest MP of India and my colleague Ms. Chandrani Murmu narrate how OTV, its promoters Mrs. Jagi Panda and Shri. Jay Panda are protecting the OTV reporter who viralled a morphed, obscene video of hers. Painful,” Dr Patra said.
“Please hear the truth about how India’s youngest MP has been wronged by OTV.@ShekharGupta@PrannoyRoyNDTV@sardesairajdeep@rahulkanwal@navikakumar@RShivshankar@SreenivasanJain@anjanaomkashyap@Soni_Razdan,” Dr Patra added.
“We all know the law. Freedom of expression comes with restrictions & certainly doesn’t cover fake news,tarnishing image of people & much less a tribal woman MP,in most reprehensible form,a fake sex video!All know consequences if this happened in Pakistan.Let’s not fool people! twitter.com/PandaJay/statu…,” BJD Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Amar Patnaik @Amar4Odisha.
BJD Kendrapara Lok Sabha MP , Anubhav Mohanty had earlier came down heavily on Jay Panda for comparing Odisha Government and Odisha Police with Pakistan. “The Nation wants to know Ex-MP @PandaJay, hw dare u compare Mahaprabhu Shree #Jagannath’s Own Motherland with #Pakistan ? Hw cud u b so ungrateful to God’s Own People (#ODIAS) who gave u n ur family the chance to represent #ODISHA for years together ? #BaijayantaInsultsJagannath,” BJD MP Anubhav Mohanty tweeted @AnubhavMohanty_.
.“Let me remind you @PandaJay that before your defeat in 2019, you were a part of this soil which you are comparing with #Pakistan now. Mr.BP, Is #Kendrapara in #Pakistan ? If Yes then Quit #Odisha right now & forever,” Kendrapara MP Mohanty said. “The Nation wants to know Ex-MP @PandaJay, hw dare u compare Mahaprabhu Shree #Jagannath’s Own Motherland with #Pakistan ? Hw cud u b so ungrateful to God’s Own People (#ODIAS) who gave u n ur family the chance to represent #ODISHA for years together ?,” MP Mohanty said.
“The Nation wants to know Ex-MP Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda, how dare you compare Our Mahaprabhu Shree #Jagannath’s Own Motherland with #Pakistan ? How could you be so ungrateful to God’s Own People (#ODIAS) who gave you and your family the chance to represent #ODISHA for years together ? You & your family have been earning bread & butter because of Odisha & millions of #ODIA’s blood, sweat & their sacrifices ! Your family survived because of #ODISHA.#BaijayantaInsultsJagannath,” Kendrapara MP Mohanty said.
Earlier, BJP National VP in a tweet, has compared Odisha with Maharashra and Pakistan.“#FreedomOfSpeechShameful how Maharashtra & Odisha police simply “pick up” & assault journalists & do custodial interrogation, without following the basic process of law, like in Pakistan. This is real fascism. Please speak up for Ramesh Rath of @otvnews & @pradip103 of @republic,” Baijayant Jay Panda had tweeted @PandaJay.
Meanwhile, soon after Baijayant Panda put his comments on twitter, the BJP leader received severe criticism and got trolled.
Earlier, while defending Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Police action against OTV and its subsidiaries over fake news and land scam, BJD Rajya Sabha MP Dr Sasmit Patra has raised IIMFA Group’s illegal chromites business. The IMFA Group is owned by BJP National VP Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda family.
Countering OTV’s Operating Officer, Litisha Mangat during a TV debate with Arnab Goswami at Republic TV, BJD MP and National spokesperson, Dr Patra alleged that OTV promoted by BJP leader Jay Panda and Jagi Panda, “they always want their corporate dealings and chromites business remain untouched and nobody should questions their business,”. Dr Patra alleged that the journalist who was picked up by police , was an accused a in viral video case involving ruling BJD Lok Sabha MP from Keonjhar, Chadrani Murmu.
In a statement , Keonjhar BJD Lok Sabha MP Murmu has accused the journalists of harassing, torturing and defaming her. Accusing OTV reporter Ramesh Rath as the perpetrator of the crime, Murmu said OTV MD Jagi Mangat Panda and her husband and BJP’s national Vice President Baijayant Panda are trying to save him by claiming that this is an attack on OTV and its journalists by the State Government.
“I have a question for OTV’s owners Jagi Panda and Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda. If a daughter from your family was in my place and her morphed obscene video had been viraled, would you have saved the man like OTV reporter Ramesh Rath who had perpetuated it?,” the MP said in her statement. “Both Jagi Panda and Jay Panda are friends with powerful people in Delhi and are using their connections to run media stories that OTV reporter Ramesh Rath being questioned by police is an attack on media and journalism,” she said.
“I demand that Jagi Panda, Jay Panda and OTV stop trying to save the perpetrators of crime like Ramesh Rath and that the national media should not fall prey to fake and false narratives being peddled by the Pandas and OTV,” she added in her statement. Notably, reporter Ramesh Rath was earlier picked up by Keonjhar police for questioning and later released. Sources said Rath was questioned in connection with the controversial video.In 2019, another OTV journalist Simanchal Patra was arrested for his alleged involvement in the case. During quizzing, Patra reportedly told the police that he got the video from Rath.
Meanwhile, “Citing a case in Odisha’s Keonjhar, Editors Guild of India said ” the Odisha Police picked up a senior journalist, Ramesh Rath, employed with a regional news channel, OTV, on charges of having circulated an obscene video last year. OTV has stated that the journalist has been targeted for having done a series of reports exposing the BJD Government in Odisha, although the State police has denied the allegations, saying no arrest has yet been done. The Guild believes that such actions threatens as well as undermines the independent functioning of the media organizations. These should e withdrawn forth worth,” the Guild said, in a statement that was signed by President Shekhar Gupta, General secretary AK Bhattacharya and Treasurer Sheela Bhatt.
