Cuttack: The ongoing row between Congress leader Lalatendu Bidyadhar (Lulu) Mahapatra and BJD minister Sanjay Dasburma intensified today as thousands of BJD workers went on a bike rally from Brahmagiri to Cuttack and submitted a memorandum to the Director General of Police (DGP) demanding immediate arrest of Mahapatra.
Following a 12-hour Brahmagiri bandh call given by the supporters of Lulu yesterday, the BJD minister had a show of strength today after his supporters took out a bike rally from Brahmagiri.
After the rally reached Puri, the BJD workers burnt the effigy of Lulu in front of Singhadwara of Shri Jagannath Temple. They also burnt the effigy of the Congress leader after reaching Bhubaneswar.
The BJD workers later went to Cuttack and submitted a memorandum to DGP KB Singh demanding immediate arrest of Mahapatra.
Talking to media persons in Cuttack, a supporter of Dasburma said after being repeatedly rejected by the people, Mahapatra is trying to create unrest in Brahmagiri and other places in the state by giving misleading statements.
“We submitted a memorandum to the DGP and he said he would take necessary steps,” he added.
In his reaction, Lulu said the allegations of the BJD against him are baseless.
“Their contention is that I am responsible for the unrest in Brahmagiri. Does anyone have the guts to say that I was involved in a single incident? Have I ever been involved in any single incident either in Brahmagiri and Odisha?” he asked.
Notably, Mahapatra had brought allegation against Dasburma in a press briefing on March 17 in which he had talked about the link of the BJD minister with the Artha Tatwa (AT) Group of Companies and its chief Pradip Sethi who had given him a Mitsubishi Pajero SUV as a gift.