Odisha BJP leader Samir Mohanty assaulted by party workers

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Sambalpur, Mar 12:

Infighting and dissent in the district unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was out in the open as senior leader Samir Mohanty was assaulted by cadres at the party office in Odisha’s Sambalpur over nomination for the post of Zilla Parishad chairperson.

The state unit vice president had to bear the brunt of workers’ ire at the party office who had gone to the western Odisha town as a poll observer for Sambalpur zone.

The incident is likely to put the party in a major embarrassment in the backdrop of the massive mandate in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Assembly elections where the party attributed the success to the disciplined organizational structure and the dedication of the workers at the grassroots level.

The senior party leader, however, sought to downplay the incident terming it as an “internal matter”.

“It is an internal matter of our family. Some workers wanted a particular person to be named the Zilla Parishad chairperson candidate. However, the party decision was different from this. Thus, such situation happened,” Samir Mohanty expressed.

Mohanty sustained minor injuries on his face and was reportedly attacked with bottles.

Notably, the BJP has won 13 of the 18 Zilla Parishad zones. While BJP will the forming the parishad, rumour has it that Suresh Pujari and Jaynarayan Mishra wanted their candidates to be elected to the top post.