Patnaik becomes BJD president for 9th time, asks party workers to expose BJP's 'false' narrative
Bhubaneswar, Apr 19 (PTI): Former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who was chosen as the BJD president for the ninth time in a row, on Saturday called upon party workers to expose the alleged false narrative of the ruling BJP.
BJD’s organisational election returning officer PK Deb announced 78-year-old Patnaik as the party president at the state council meeting held at its state headquarters, Sankha Bhawan.
Addressing party leaders and workers after being named as the BJD president, Patnaik said, "We conceded defeat in the last assembly election by a narrow margin, even though our party got more votes. This is because we couldn’t effectively counter the false narrative. Creating a false narrative is the main strategy against the BJD. We should be aggressive in exposing this, especially on social media."
The leader of opposition in the Odisha assembly also said, "We need to improve our social media presence. Technology should be used to tell the truth and the facts, and without technology, we cannot reach out to people."
Patnaik has been the founder president of the regional party and was the lone candidate for the post.
"Patnaik was elected as the BJD president unopposed," Deb said.
In a veiled attack on the ruling BJP, the BJD chief said, "No one should underestimate the organisational strength of our party. The spirit of BJD workers remains very high. They are our real assets."
“I have full faith in BJD workers, brothers and sisters. They are the ones who will give a befitting reply to the propaganda. They will spread the message of our service to every village and city of Odisha,” Patnaik said.
He described the 2000-2024 period as the 'golden age', as the BJD ruled Odisha during these years.
Commencing his speech with the 'Jai Jagannath' chant, Patnaik said that the ideology of his father, Biju Patnaik, continued to remain the guiding principle of the BJD.
“Our principles and ideals are our strength. Whether in the government or not, the Biju Janata Dal has always served the people of Odisha and will continue to do so,” he said.
Claiming that the welfare of the people of Odisha is the BJD’s focus, Patnaik said empowerment of women, farmers, youth, workers, tribals and regional development is his party’s priority.
“The BJD has been working for the pride of Odisha and the state’s interests. Our fight for the rights of the Odisha people will continue. Odisha's pride and the interests of the people are paramount to us,” he said.
As soon as his name was announced as the BJD president, the party's district leaders greeted Patnaik and offered him flowers, paintings and Lord Jagannath’s 'Anga bastra' and 'Maha Prasad'.
The party's state council has 355 members, and 80 of them were elected as state executives, Deb added.
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Gurugram Police arrest BJP Yuva Morcha member for spreading fake murder story on social media
New Delhi: Gurugram Police have arrested BJP Yuva Morcha member Hariom Mishra, for allegedly spreading a fabricated and communally sensitive story on social media about the murder of a college student in Gurugram.
Mishra who is also known as Shaurya Mishra had shared a collage of four photographs on his X handle earlier this month. He claimed that a 24-year-old college student, identified as Nikita Agarwal, had been murdered by her classmate Arif Khan in Gurugram. In the post, he alleged that the woman was blackmailed, forced into prostitution, gangraped, and eventually killed. He also claimed that Arif dumped her body in a forest. The claims were presented as being based on police sources.
The post went viral and garnering over 1.5 lakh views, and was amplified by several right-wing social media handles across X, Facebook and Instagram. A verification of the claims revealed that no such incident had taken place in Gurugram. A search of credible news reports showed no record of any such murder. The police said this news would have inevitably attracted media attention if it were true.
On December 11, Gurugram Police publicly refuted the claims through their official X handle. They stated that the information which was being circulated was completely false. The police warned that legal action would be taken against those spreading misinformation. Despite the warning, Mishra neither deleted the post nor issued any clarification.
Police in Gurugram confirmed Mishra's arrest on December 16. The police said a FIR was filed after he continued to spread false information about the alleged murder of a Hindu woman by Muslim man. Police said Mishra, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi district, is now being investigated.
Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Singh told The Print that the accused had deliberately misrepresented facts and used objectionable content to spread hatred along religious lines. “Such posts can create serious disturbances in society, and the police take these matters very seriously,” he said.
A reverse image search conducted by fact-checkers at Alt News, revealed that the photographs used in the viral post were unrelated to the claims, while two of the images were traced to a Pinterest account belonging to influencer Maulik Chopra and another image was sourced from an Instagram post by influencer Shivam Thakur featuring a woman named Deepanshi Rawat. The fourth image was found on an unrelated Instagram page. The images depicted different individuals and had no connection to any crime.
Police said they are also investigating Mishra’s motive behind sharing the false and provocative content.
