Bhubaneswar: Panelist of Biju Janata Dal, Om Prakash Sahoo today came down heavily on senior BJP leader Pitambar Acharya and said that “Acharya has lost his mental balance and is therefore babbling incoherently with false, baseless, wild accusations which exposes his intellectual bankruptcy.”

“While doing so he has insulted Odia race and Odia people. He should immediately apologize to the people of Odisha who are excelling in various fields in the country and abroad,” Sahoo said.

The BJD leader further said that by giving such malicious and false statements he (Acharya) is not only bringing the image of his party down, he is turning Odisha BJP into a party of ridicule before the people of Odisha.

Sahoo said, “He (Acharya) is shamelessly misinterpreting the law and maliciously twisting the facts of a matter to suit his political agenda that shows the low depths of political discourse and his desperation that he has sunk to. Criticism by the opposition on a ruling party is necessary and healthy in a democracy. But using low, abusive, threatening and insulting language is unacceptable.”

“We know that many people in Odisha BJP also do not like the language and the low level of political discourse of Shri. Pitambar Acharya. We hope Odisha BJP refrains from sending such irresponsible persons from political briefing,” the BJD leader further said.

Earlier today at a presser, BJP leader Pitambar Acharya accused the ruling party of trying to cover up the name of minister Pratap Jena, who is another accused in the Mahanga double murder case.

The BJP leader alleged that while the charge sheet was filed in the name of 13 people, minister Jena managed to withdraw his name from the charge sheet using this influence.