Rayagada: A youth leader of BJD allegedly assaulted some villagers for raising local problems before the party leaders during election campaign in Odisha’s Rayagada district on Sunday.
According to sources, Jagannath Saraka, Minister of ST and SC Development and BJD candidate for Bisamkatak Assembly constituency in the district, had gone with his supporters for election campaign to Raghubari village under Muniguda block.
On reaching the village, Saraka held a meeting with the villagers in presence of local leaders and sarpanch. The villagers brought the attention of the minister to their problems including drinking water, road condition and others.
While Saraka was listening to the villagers, Dhirendra Panigrahy, a youth leader of the party, abused them and even beat up two of them. The former district president and state general secretary of BJD Sudhir Das, who was present at the spot, did not prevent Panigrahy from forcefully silencing the villagers. A video of the incident has gone viral in the social media.
However, Panigrahy refuted the allegation and clarified that while they had gone to the village, some women raised the drinking water problem in the area. “While we were patiently listening to the villagers, some workers of Congress arrived there and started shooting in video camera of their mobile phones. Even as I objected them, they did not listen to me. I snatched a mobile phone from one of them. But I have not assaulted or attacked anybody,” he said.
