Pradeep Pattanayak

I don’t have any remorse at all for what happened on that day because I had no fault, said Chilika MLA Prashant Jagdev told OTV on Wednesday in reference to the March 12 incident. 

On March 12, his SUV had ploughed into the crowd, leaving at least 22 injured in Banapur area. 

Breaking his silence for the first time after getting bail from the Supreme Court, the legislator said he was not sorry for the March 12 incident. 

“In fact, I had no fault at all. I was on my way to meet Panchayat Samiti members. All of a sudden, BJP workers carrying lathis and party flags came towards me and started attacking me. They went on causing damage to my car while I was sitting inside. During the incident, I lost my sense for some time for which my foot slipped from the brake and the vehicle started moving on its own. It was when they tried to drag me out of the car, accidentally the accelerator was pressed. It was all that happened on that day,” said Jagdev. 

Actually, the media telecast the last part of the incident. Had they telecast what happened to me while I was entering, the incident wouldn’t have been compared to the infamous Lakhimpur Kheri incident. 

When asked about the recovery of fake number and liquor bottles from his car, he accused the BJP activists of carrying out all these things in a planned way. “They had conspired to kill me. After attacking me, they changed the number plate and put liquor bottles in my car,” said the legislator, adding since the incident was linked to Lakhimpur Kheri incident, the party had to suspend him. 

Regarding Pinaki Mishra’s help in getting bail from the Supreme Court, the Chilika MLA said, “He fought for me because he realised what had exactly happened on that day. So he fought and I got bail.”

Setting aside the gossip regarding him contesting the 2024 general election as an independent candidate, he said he hopes the party would give him a ticket. “I will obey whatever decision the party would take in my case,” said Jagdev. 

In this regard, BJP MLA Lalitendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra said, “If he is saying he is innocent, 4.5 crore people who had watched the incident on TV screens throughout the day would decide whether he is telling truth or not.”
 

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