Flag row: BJP workers burn Patnaik’s effigy

BHUBANESWAR - Hundreds of activists of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party’s youth wing Friday burnt an effigy of Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for his “disrespect” to the national flag.

Shouting slogans against the chief minister and carrying placards and banners, the activists also criticized the police for its role in the incident.

“Police has arrested a BJD (ruling Biju Janata Dal) worker but is yet to take action against the chief minister and others who displayed the disfigured flag,” BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra told reporters.

The Kalinga Sena, another political party, also carried out a similar protest rally separately in the state capital and demanded immediate arrest of the chief minister.

Patnaik is under attack after he and many of his ministerial colleagues displayed a flag during the foundation day function of BJD Sunday, similar to the the tricolour but with the party’s conch symbol and name instead of the Ashoka emblem.

The very next day, some organisations and individuals lodged three complaints with police terming it a violation of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act.

A BJD worker was arrested Wednesday after he said he brought the flag with him to the party function. He said it was a national flag that was used in 1997 to cover the mortal remains of late Biju Patnaik, the present chief minister’s father.