Odishatv Bureau

Bhubaneswar: BJD today demanded resignation of Haryana Chief Minister M L Khattar, holding him responsible for the violence following the conviction of self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on Friday.

"Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar is fully responsible for the violence and must step down," BJD spokesman P K Deb said.

"The Haryana CM should take moral responsibility and step down in view of the 30 deaths in the violence," he added.

On the other hand, State General Secretary of BJP Prithviraj Harichandan said that the tragic incident of Dera violence should not be politicised.

Meanwhile, expressing sympathy over the Dera incident, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said that he was pained by the loss of lives in the violence in Haryana and appealed for peace.

"Pained by loss of lives in violence in Haryana. I condemn the unlawful acts in strongest possible terms and appeal for restoration of peace," Patnaik tweeted.

scrollToTop