Odisha: BJD MLA booked for attacking BJP leader, suspended from party

BHUBANESWAR: BJD on Wednesday suspended its Chilika MLA Prashanta Kumar Jagadev hours after the Balugaon police in Khurda district registered a case against him for allegedly assaulting a local BJP leader.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has also removed Jagadev from the post of chairperson of Khurda district planning committee.
The prompt action against Jagadev after a video, featuring Jagadev’s unruly conduct with the BJP leader Niranjan Sethy in full public view went viral on social media platforms. Sethy is BJP’s Balugaon town president.
“Prashanta Kumar Jagadev, MLA, Chilika assembly constituency, is hereby suspended from Biju Janata Dal with immediate effect,” read the office order signed by BJD president and chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
The Balugaon police have booked Jagadev under sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 294 (obscene acts), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (act done by several persons with common intention) of the IPC and Section 3 (1r)/3(1s) of SC and ST (prevention of atrocities) Act.
“We have registered the case and are investigating the matter. The charges are being examined,” a police officer told TOI.
Jagadev (52), a two-time BJD MLA, is infamous for his frequent run-ins in public places.
On November 3, 2016, Jagadev, who was then the Begunia MLA, was booked for allegedly abusing former Bolagada tehsildar Niharika Nayak, an Odisha Administrative Services (OAS) officer.
The party, which was believed to have warned Jagadev in the past, showed zero tolerance against him this time for his uncouth conduct.
In the latest case, Jagadev allegedly attacked Sethy following an altercation between the two over distribution of land pattas in the area on Wednesday.
“I had gone to the local notified area council office and inquired about the delay in distribution of old-age pensions to the beneficiaries. When I was returning, I saw Jagadev distributing land pattas to some people. When I told him that such a practice should have been conducted by government officials, he hurled abuses and attacked me,” Sethy said.
Jagadev was unavailable for comment.
Jagadev is the second BJD MLA to have faced disciplinary action in the last one year. The party had expelled Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Panigrahy on November 29, 2020 for alleged corrupt practices.
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