Ink Attack On Odisha Congress President Sarat Pattnayak Ahead Of NEET Paper Leak Protest

Bhubaneswar: Some ‘disgruntled’ elements of Congress here on Friday allegedly threw ink at Odisha unit president Sarat Pattanayak at the party’s state headquarters in Bhubaneswar.

According to sources, some party activists entered Sarat’s chamber at Congress Bhawan here, raising a slogan ‘Sarat hatao Congress bachao’ and doused him with ink. They also splashed ink on the door outside his chamber. The party suspects involvement of workers, who were dissatisfied over alleged massive irregularities in distribution of tickets during the recently concluded Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls in the state, in the incident.

Sarat, however, said that the attack was plotted by the BJP to stop the Congress from protesting against the NEET paper leak. “Such incidents don’t bother me. Earlier also eggs and stones were hurled at me. The BJP or any other party who plotted it can’t stop me. Those who are jealous of the growth of Congress in Odisha have done it… We will continue to fight and protest against NEET paper leak. Congress is staging protests across the country as lakhs of students are suffering due to the NEET paper leak,” he told reporters.

He further stated that attempts are being made to destabilise the Congress. “A few deceitful people are planning to weaken the Congress since it is slowly returning to its glorious days. We will stand with the lakhs of NEET students and fight against those who are playing with their future,” he added.

Notably, the Congress had improved its tally in the recently-concluded Assembly polls by winning 14 seats. It had won 9 seats in 2019.