BJP's Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi on Monday asked Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to follow 'Rajdharma' and stop being a 'Dhritarastra'. Sarangi was allegedly attacked with eggs, and stones by members of the Mission Shakti during her visit to the Athantra area under the Bhubaneswar Parliamentary segment on Sunday.
"In the name of women empowerment, the state government of Odisha has been using Mission Shakti women to attack me - a woman MP, duly elected & blessed by the people. THE REAL FACE OF MISSION SHAKTI... Will Hon'ble @CMOdisha stop being DHRITRASHTRA & carry out his 'RAJDHARMA'," Sarangi said in a post in X, formerly Twitter.
In the post the the BJP MP also attached three pictures of Mission Shakti women members allegedly holding black flags, stones and eggs used in the attack.
She cited three incidents in the last three days where "sponsored hooligans" tried to prevent her from discharging duties as an MP in Bhubaneswar. "The chief minister and his government are responsible for any untoward incident", Sarangi said.
"I am a female MP and I am not safe in my parliamentary constituency. From now onward, if anything bad happens at my meeting place, the state government will be responsible for that," Sarangi said on Sunday.
Claiming that whenever she goes to her area to meet people and listen to their issues, some people are staging protests, Sarangi said, adding that this has happened continuously for the last three days.
Responding to Sarangi's allegations, BJD spokesperson Srimayee Mishra said, "It surprises me that whenever any voter asks her anything, she gets irritated. She is even terming it as hooliganism. If you are branding your voters as hooligans, it means hooligans have voted you to power." On Sunday, during her visit to the Jaydev area under the Bhubaneswar Parliamentary segment, Sarangi was opposed by some people leading to a scuffle between the BJP and BJD workers.
Senior BJP leader and former state president Samir Mohanty said that a rare incident is seen in different parts of Odisha where opposition people's representatives are not getting protection. Some people from BJD attempted to stop BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi while making tours to her constituency.
"If a woman MP is not safe, it raises a big question mark on the governance in Odisha, which is a matter of concern,” Mohanty said, adding that the chief minister should ensure protection to the Bhubaneswar MP.
The attack on Sarangi came barely two days after Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Panigrahi faced the ire of allegedly BJD supporters while going to his own constituency. Panigrahi was expelled from the BJD in 2020.
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