StatesOdisha
BJP workers accused of ransacking BJD block chairperson's office in Puri district
The attack at Satyabadi followed a viral clip in which the chairperson allegedly called BJP members dogs. Naveen Patnaik said anarchy was crossing its limits in Odisha.
Key points
- BJP workers allegedly damaged furniture in the Satyabadi block office on Wednesday.
- BJD block chairperson Sunil Kumar Panda's group is demanding the arrest of BJP MLA Om Prakash Mishra.
- Naveen Patnaik asked why the state government was "repeatedly condoning such anarchy".
BJP workers allegedly forced their way into the office of a BJD block chairperson in Odisha’s Puri district on Wednesday and damaged furniture, prompting the former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to accuse the state government of tolerating lawlessness.
The incident took place on the premises of the Block Development Officer’s office in Satyabadi, which also houses the office of block chairperson Sunil Kumar Panda of the BJD. The workers were said to be protesting against remarks Panda allegedly made at a meeting, in which he called BJP members “dogs”. A clip of the meeting had gone viral.
After the attack, Panda and members of the block committee sat in protest outside the office and demanded the arrest of the local BJP MLA, Om Prakash Mishra, and others they accuse of being involved.
Patnaik, the BJD president and Leader of the Opposition, condemned the incident on social media. “Anarchy is crossing its limits,” he wrote. He asked why the state government was “repeatedly condoning such anarchy”, and whether being in power entitled BJP workers to enter government offices and commit violence. “There is no place for anarchy and violence in peaceful Odisha,” he said, adding that lawlessness had hurt the state’s image across the country.
BJD leader Sanjay Kumar Das Burma alleged that police had neither registered a case nor arrested anyone. No response from the BJP or the police to the allegations was available.