Ahead of the upcoming byelection in the Jharsuguda Assembly constituency in Odisha, the ruling BJD and BJP are engaged in a fierce war of words over the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

While the BJP targeted the BJD over the alleged slide in the law and order, the BJD reminded the former that the number of crimes like rape and murder in Odisha is much less compared to the BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The bypoll for the Jharsuguda will be held on May 10. It has been necessitated by the death of the health minister Naba Kishore Das, who was shot dead by an assistant inspector of police.

Raking up the issue of law and order situation in the state, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, considered as the face of the BJP in Odisha, targeted the Odisha government over the murder of a 15-year-old boy Samarth Agrawal.

He was kidnapped and murdered and the alf-burnt body was recovered on Wednesday. The boy was murdered as his father failed to pay the ransom.

Pradhan tweeted, “Lawless Odisha is a reality.High-time people in power recognised the fault-lines in the law and order situation in the state. Murder of young Samartha exactly withintwo months of the broad daylight killing of minister Naba Das exposes Odisha government’s tall claims on ruleof law.”

Protesting against the deterioration in law and order situation, BJP MLAs on Wednesday created a ruckus in the Assembly. They accused the government of failing to resolve the murder case of Naba Kishore Das.

Well aware of the BJP’s strategy, the BJD hit backand its spokesperson, Rajya Sabha member Sasmit Patra tweeted, “Please don’t mislead and do politics on sensitive matters of crime. Do you know as per NCRB report (2021),BJP rules states like UP, MP, Maharashtra, Assam and Haryana have more rape cases than Odisha? That BJP-ruled states like UP, MP and Maharashtra have more murder cases than Odisha in 2021.”

Targeting Pradhan, Patra also tweeted, “He further tweeted “Bhai, don’t insultthe peace-loving people of Odisha by branding them as lawless. Don’t insult Odisha for your petty political narrative. It’s surprising to see that despite you having been a Hon’ble Union Minister for so long.”

The Congress also raised the issue of law and order. “The law and order situation has collapsed in the state,” said Congress MLA Santosh Singh Salulja.

However, the BJD maintains that in both cases, the accused have already been arrested and the investigation is on. “People know how law and order prevails in Naveen’s regime,” said BJD leader Debi Prasad Mishra.

Earlier on March 21, the chief minister in his response to the Opposition’s allegation of lawlessness in the state, said the law-and-ordersituation was good andOdisha was making progress because peace prevailed in the state.

“Getting investment to a state is a reflection of the law-and-order situation in the state.

“No investment comes when the law and order situation is poor in a state. Odisha gets one of the highest investments in the country,” Naveen had said, adding that by accusing the state as lawless, the Opposition was insulting the people of the state.