Alleging an attack by Mission Shakti women, BJP’s Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi on Monday (August 28) asked Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to “stop being 'Dhritarastra' and follow 'Rajdharma'”.
Sarangi was allegedly attacked with eggs and stones by Mission Shakti members 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.
The BJP MP also shared three pictures of the women allegedly holding black flags, flags, stones, and eggs used in the attack.
Citing incidents in the last three days when “sponsored hooligans” attempted to prevent her from discharging duties as an MP in Bhubaneswar, Sarangi said that the chief minister and his government are responsible for “any untoward incident”.
"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.
She claimed that some people are staging protests whenever she goes to her area to meet people, and added that this has happened continuously for the last three days.
BJD reacts to allegations
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.
Notably, BJD is being seen as a potential political partner of the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections amid the Opposition’s I.N.D.I.A. alliance. Patnaik, despite being an Opposition leader, has neither joined the Opposition’s bloc nor attended any of the two meetings that were held in Patna and Bengaluru.
His party also backed the BJP during the Delhi Services Bill in Rajya Sabha and the No-Confidence Motion brought in by the Opposition in Lok Sabha in the Monsoon Session of the Parliament.
(With PTI inputs)
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