The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on Monday that five of its leaders had been suspended because they were thought to have been involved in last week’s violent protests outside the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) office. The protest, which was supposed to bring attention to problems with corruption and slowness in BMC operations, turned into a mess that hurt people and damaged property.
Names Aren’t Given Out; Party Is All About Discipline
The BJP has not officially shared the names of the leaders who have been suspended, but they have said that they are from the Bhubaneswar district unit. Officials from the party said that internal investigations and video footage showed that these people either led or encouraged violence during the agitation.
“No Tolerance for Violence,” Odisha says BJP Leader
Manmohan Samal, President of the Odisha BJP, made it clear that the party does not support any kind of violent protest. He said, “We believe in democratic protest, but disorder and damage to public property are not okay.” It is also important to the party to keep up its public image and keep things running smoothly within it, he said.
BJD Says BJP’s “Street Politics” Are Bad
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which is in power, spoke out against the BJP’s acts and said it was using street politics to get people’s attention before the elections. Leaders of the BJD called for harsh legal action against people who damaged city property and caused trouble in the community.
An internal committee will look into it further.
The BJP has set up an internal disciplinary committee to look into the issue further. If harsher measures like permanent expulsion are found, they could happen next. Party sources say that the top leaders were angry about the bad news and wanted to set a strict example.
Effects on politics: In Time for the Odisha Elections
Political experts think that the BJP’s quick action is a plan to limit the damage and show that its leaders are mature before the Odisha civic and state elections. A political expert in the area said, “They want to reassure voters that the party stands for accountability—even when it comes to their own.”
