Odisha: BJP worried over rebellion, violence in Cuttack, Kendrapara
Cuttack: The BJP is plagued by discontent within its ranks over the selection of candidates for assembly constituencies in both Cuttack and Kendrapara parliamentary constituencies.
On Wednesday night, the growing rift in the saffron party came to the fore when rival factions fought a pitched battle at Podamarai in Mahanga in Kendrapara district. The violence at the rally organized by the party’s Mahanga assembly constituency candidate Sumant Ghadei and MP candidate Baijayant Panda exposed the situation within the party.
The two groups clashed with each other over a dispute over parking of vehicles, leaving at least three people injured. The clash turned ugly when members of the group pelted stones and beat each other with sticks. In this fierce fight, many vehicles were also vandalized, which were later controlled by the local police.
Although neither Ghadei nor Panda, who were reportedly safe as a section of workers protected them during the incident, could not be contacted for comment on the issue, the injured were rescued and taken to hospital by the police. Went. Bhadreshwar IIC Kabuli Barik said two separate FIRs have been filed by both the parties in connection with the incident.
The saffron party fielded a new face, Sumanth, from Mahanga, while rejecting the ambitious Saradha Pradhan, who had unsuccessfully contested the last election and was involved in the party’s organizational activities.
Similar dissatisfaction surfaced over the nomination of candidates in Cuttack, which landed the saffron party’s candidate from the Lok Sabha seat, Bhartrihari Mahtab, in trouble. A few days ago, Mahtab was embarrassed during a rally organized by party candidate Sambit Tripathi in Badamba assembly constituency as disgruntled party workers raised slogans “Mahtab is welcome, Sambit Tripathi go back”. In Badamba, the BJP fielded a newcomer Tripathi, ignoring Bijay Dalbehara, who had contested the 2019 assembly elections and has a strong base. Dalabehera had received 72,545 votes and due to his efforts, the party created a record by winning seven of the eight Zilla Parishad seats in Badamba and Narsinghpur blocks.
Similarly, the party did not give ticket to Subhranshu Mohan Padhi and fielded newcomer Tusharkant Chakraborty, who is finding it difficult to get acceptance in the rest of the assembly constituency. Opposing Chakraborty’s candidature, the dissidents held a meeting at Archandi in Dampada block and Subarnapur in Banki block and urged the party seniors to change the candidate.
