Balangir: Two leaders of BJP’s Balangir district unit in Odisha were reportedly engaged in a scuffle during a rally of the party’s state president Manmohan Samal on Monday.
According to sources, Samal had gone to Balangir to participate in the BJP’s “Mo Mati, Mo Desha” programme. The party took out a huge rally led by Samal from Bijakhaman locality in the town. Balangir MP Sangeeta Singh Deo and senior BJP leader Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo accompanied him.
When the rally was passing through RTO Chhak, BJP’s district leaders Anant Das and his associate Balaram Sing Yadav went to present a bouquet to Samal. But they were opposed by another local leader Gopalji Panigrahi.
This led to a scuffle between the two leaders. Soon their followers were engaged in attacking each other. In the process, the shirt of Das was torn off, said the sources. Das and Panigrahi lead rival factions of BJP’s district unit, they added.
However, Samal refuted the report and claimed that no such incident took place during the rally. “The rally passed off peacefully without any disturbances. Besides, there is no non-Odia leader in Balangir district unit of the party,” he added.
