Bhubaneswar: A political blame game erupted on Thursday in the aftermath of Wednesday’s violence unleashed by app‑based vehicle drivers on Mahatma Gandhi Marg here. While the opposition BJD slammed the city police for “inept handling” of the protest, the BJP alleged a conspiracy by the opposition itself.BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty came down heavily on the commissionerate police, accusing them of failing to gather intelligence about the massive mobilisation of drivers who vandalised public transport buses, police vans and private cars in full view of law enforcers.“The DCP admitted that several protesters had a history of anti‑social activities. Shockingly, neither he nor his personnel could get a whiff of hundreds of drivers assembling and taking law into their own hands. We strongly condemn the violence, the attack on police personnel, the damage to public property and inconvenience caused to citizens. At the same time, we are appalled by the incapability of the city police and their poor intelligence mechanism,” Mohanty told journalists.The BJD demanded a high‑level inquiry into the incident and action against police officials who failed to anticipate the unrest.Police, however, rejected charges of negligence. “We handled protesters with restraint and arrested many unruly drivers,” a senior officer said.The BJP, meanwhile, turned its guns on the BJD, accusing it of orchestrating the violence. “It appears the BJD is behind the unrest. This is a deliberate attempt to malign the state govt,” BJP MLA Manoranjan Dyan Samantara alleged.Congress MLA C S Raazen Ekka also weighed in, saying: “Constructive dialogue by govt could have averted this flashpoint,” he said.
