**Bhubaneswar:** The shoe-hurling at Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during Bijepur by-poll campaign has been condemned by Biju Janta Dal which termed it as cheap tactics by a desperate opposition.” Such an attack on the head of the State has set a shameful precedence in Odisha politics, said BJD.
The regional party leaders directly held the BJP responsible for orchestrating the ‘act.’ Training guns at the saffron party, BJD spokesperson Pratap Keshari Deb said that the opposition (BJP) has become obsessed with the growing popularity of the Chief Minister.
It would be worth mentioning here that after the incident Naveen carried on with his scheduled itinerary and mingled with the villagers without any additional security. He spoke to the voters directly and had a brief discussion with the local BJD leaders.
“We have gone to meet the people who were waiting to see the Chief Minister. Why do we need additional security for meeting our own people,” Deb said speaking to mediapersons here. Naveen accompanied by senior BJD leader Prasanna Acharya, was seen exhorting people to cast their vote for the BJD.
“Since the moment he landed in Bijepur, Naveen Patnaik received a rousing welcome wherever he went. With rapt attention, the public in thousands, was glued to his speeches. This was enough to induce fear in an already insecure BJP,” Deb said.
The police seized flags of the BJP from the possession of Kartik Meher, who is in police custody. This corroborates the fact that the incident was sponsored by BJP in a bid to spoil a successful rally of the Biju Janta Dal, said Deb.
On the other hand BJP spokesperson Sameer Mohanty criticized the shoe hurling incident. He however, denied that the miscreant who committed the act has any links with the BJP. “It is a failure of the State police which cannot provide security to the Chief Minister,” Mohanty said.