Odisha Women's Safety: Patnaik Slams BJP's Leadership Failure

Odisha's political landscape heats up as BJD leader Naveen Patnaik slams the BJP government for its alleged failure to protect women, sparking a strong rebuttal from the Deputy Chief Minister regarding past and present crime statistics.

Photograph: ANI Photo

Key Points

Naveen Patnaik, BJD leader, accuses the BJP government in Odisha of failing to address the rising crimes against women.
Patnaik claims the BJD prioritises women's empowerment and criticises the current government's leadership.
Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida defends the BJP government's commitment to women's safety and criticises Patnaik's past record.
Parida challenges Patnaik to cite a recent case where the accused in a crime against a woman was not arrested promptly.

BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik on Sunday slammed the BJP government in Odisha for "total failure of leadership" over the "rising" number of incidents of crimes against women.

Addressing the party's women leaders and members here on the occasion of International Women's Day, Patnaik said the BJD, which follows the ideology of former chief minister Biju Patnaik, had taken major steps for the empowerment of women when it was in power in the state.

"However, under the BJP government, atrocities against women are on the rise, and no one is there to listen to them... (It's a) total failure of the leadership at the government level," he said.

Stating that the BJD recognises the power of women in social development, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly said his party will continue to fight for the security, dignity and "true empowerment" of women.

He said Biju Patnaik was a "torch-bearer of women's empowerment in India".

Government's Response to Allegations

Reacting to Patnaik's statement, Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida asserted that the Mohan Charan Majhi government is committed to ensuring the safety and security of women.

Hitting out at the BJD chief, she said, "Because he failed to provide security to the women during his 24-year rule, they changed the government. If we start counting cases of crimes against women reported during the BJD government's tenure, it will be a very long list."

"Let the LoP cite an incident of a crime against a woman, during our tenure, in which the accused was not arrested within 48 hours," he added.

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