BJD versus BJP over a freedom fighter’s family in Odisha

Smarting since the panchayat poll results where the BJP performed creditably, the BJD quickly hit back. “It was cruel of the BJP to dump the families of the freedom fighters after the ceremony was over,” said BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik sent his officials to escort Sujata home, while senior Koraput BJD leader Rabi Narayan Nanda gave the family Rs 50,000. Once home, Sujata alleged that the family had borrowed Rs 3,000 to get to Bhubaneswar for the ceremony and all that they got was a plaque saying Laxmi Panda had participated in the Paika rebellion of 1817. It didn’t mention her role in the INA in the 1930s, she fumed.

It was the turn of PSU aluminium maker Nalco, entrusted the task of looking after Panda’s family, to defend itself. Nalco issued a statement saying it had made all the arrangements for the Panda family’s boarding and lodging at its guesthouse in Bhubaneswar, but that they did not want to take it. It added, “Though we wanted to tansport them by our own vehicle, they wanted to travel by train and were given Rs 6,000 as travel and food expenses.”

However, the controversy refused to die. With Babula still missing, the BJP alleged a threat to his life. BJP MLA Pradip Purohit accused BJD leader Rabi Nanda and state Energy Minister Pranab Prakash Das of being responsible for the disappearance. “Babula Panda is a young man, why would he disappear just like that? The BJD is trying to hide Babula to defame the BJP. Call records of these leaders should be checked,” Purohit said. While Das rubbished the allegations, Nanda told The Indian Express, “The BJP is known for such baseless statements.”

On Tuesday, the Youth Congress jumped into the row, lodging an FIR demanding action against Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan. Youth Congress working president Loknath Maharathy said Pradhan was instrumental in selecting the families of the martyrs felicitated by Modi and and had used the event for the BJP’s campaign.

Then it was the turn of Odisha Director General of Police K B Singh to speak up. He said Babula had cases of assault and criminal intimidation against him, and that was one of the reasons he had gone into hiding. “He is avoiding police. We are tracking his mobile phone. We came to know that he spoke to a woman,” said Singh. At the same time, the DGP said, it could all boil down to the confusion at the railway station among the Pandas on the way back home. “We came to know there was a quarrel at the station. I think Babula was upset over this,” said Singh.

The Pandas are not the only “freedom fighters” caught in the BJD-BJP tussle either. The BJD has said three of the 16 martyr families honoured on April 16 were “fake”. Hitting back, senior BJP leader Biswabhushan Harichandan, who played a major role in the selection of the descendants, said the BJD had never cared for family members of the Paika warriors. “Now when we are trying to bring the unsung heroes to limelight, the BJD can’t tolerate that,” said Harichandan. And yet, there are murmurs in the BJP too, that nine of the descendants who were selected for the felicitation were distantly related to him. Harichandan called the allegation laughable: “Only a couple of them are related to me.”