BHUBANESWAR: A day after the attack on Panchayati Raj Minister Maheswar Mohanty while campaigning for the panchayat polls, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Congress have started trading charges accusing each other of being involved in the incident.Alleging involvement of Congressmen in the attack, BJD MP Pinaki Mishra said, “The incident was obviously pre-planned and a handiwork of Congress.” Mishra, a former Congress leader, told a private TV channel that he was familiar with the style of functioning of the Opposition party which often indulges in violent activities.Biju Yuva Janata Dal (BYJD) president and Bramhagiri MLA Sanjay Dasburma also said that Congressmen were involved in the attack. He said that Congress designed the attack on the Minister as it was frustrated because of repeated defeats in the elections.The BJD on Tuesday organised a huge public meeting at Bramhana Olandi village where the Minister was attacked on Monday night. A public meeting was also held at Puri by the BJD to condemn the attack on Mohanty.His arch rival and senior Congress leader Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra, however, denied the allegation saying the incident was a fallout of BJD’s internal conflicts. Mohapatra told this paper that Congress played no role in the incident. “Our party neither instigated anyone nor designed the attack,” he said.The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) has also condemned the attack on the minister. OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik said that strong action should be taken against the person who attacked the minister irrespective of his political affiliations.Wishing Mohanty a speedy recovery, Patnaik said that the punishment should be exemplary so that in future criminals will refrain from attacking political leaders.
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