The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Wednesday evening organised peace rallies across the state to counter the BJP’s move to politicise the turmoil arising from the violence that erupted during the Hanuman Jayanti procession in Sambalpur.

BJD spokesperson Lelin Mohanty said: “Odisha is a peaceful state. It has been found that the BJP is tryingto mislead public opinion on the law-and-order problem that took place in Sambalpur during Hanuman Jayanti. While all attempts are being made to bring peace and restore normalcy in Sambalpur, a section of people with nefarious designs tried to create trouble in the area. It’s not acceptable. They need to understand the social fabric of Odisha, which is secular in nature.”

The BJD organised the peace rally across the state after the BJP on Wednesday extended its support to the 12-hour bandh call given by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in all the 10 districts of western Odisha and in the undivided Koraput district, mostly the tribal pockets of the state. The VHP called the 12-hour bandh to protest the state’s anti-Hindu policy and failure to contain violence during the Hanuman Jayanti rally in Sambalpur. The bandh passed off peacefully though its impact was felt in Sambalpur.

The VHP tried to rake up the issue of how a tribal youth was hacked to death on Hanuman Jayanti in Sambalpur.

Realising that the saffron party is playing a dangerous game, the BJD decided to go to the public on the issue.

“Whoever lives in the state belongs to Odisha. The BJP had earlier tried to divide the people on religious grounds but they were not successful. They will not be successful,” former minister Prafulla Samal said.

However, BJP’s Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi said the VHP’s bandh call was meant to pull the BJD out of “Kumbhakarna nidra (deep slumber)”.

“Law and order havegone for a toss in the state.Despite the large-scale violence in Sambalpur, the Naveen Patnaik government continues to be indifferent,” Sarangi said.

Normalcy is slowly returning to Sambalpur town. The curfew was relaxed from 7am to 6pm on Wednesday.

The town had witnessed violence on April 12 when a bike rally was organised ahead of Hanuman Jayanti celerations on April 14. A section of people pelted stones at the rally and the bikers retaliated.

The violence broke out again on Hanuman Jayanti despite the presence of a heavy police force. Since then, Sambalpur town is under curfew and Section 144 has been clamped in the rest of the district.