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BJP vs BJP: Turf war rocks saffron party in Odisha
A few leaders of the Odisha unit of the BJP said dissidence started brewing in the party since the day Aparajita Sarangi started her election campaign and won from Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency against heavy odds, earlier this year.
A day after Bhubaneswar district president of BJP was attacked by a group of miscreants in the city, police are yet to make an arrest in the case that has fuelled speculation of severe infighting in the party.
BJP’s Bhubaneswar district unit president Harekrushna Khuntia was at his friend’s office near Ekamra Haat area of the city on Friday afternoon when a group of 10 people allegedly attacked him with hockey sticks leaving him critically injured. The miscreants also reportedly ransacked the office premises before fleeing.
An injured Khuntia was later rushed to Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar where he accused the Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi of ordering the hit.
“The assailants were acting at the behest of Bapi alias Debashis Nyak who is political nominee of Sarangi. This is an outcome of political rivalry which has been orchestrated by Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi,” Khuntia alleged.
Bhubaneswar deputy commissioner of police Anup Kumar Sahoo said one person has been detained in the case, but the police are yet to make any arrests. “We are still trying to find out what was the motive behind the attack - political or something else,” he said.
Khuntia later lodged a complaint with the police against Nayak and others, but did not name the BJP MP. Nayak was the one who was detained.
Sarangi said she has asked the police commissioner of Bhubaneswar to inquire into the incident thoroughly. “Let the law take its own course,” she said.
Nayak has at least 20 cases against him including murder and was once detained under National Security Act. Nayak along with three others were arrested by the Bhubaneswar Commissionerate Police in April 2018 in connection with an extortion case.
No one in state unit of BJP was willing to comment on the attack, but few of them said dissidence started brewing in the party since the day Sarangi started her election campaign and won from Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha constituency against heavy odds, earlier this year.
“She has been running her parallel organisation in the party and does not take into confidence other senior leaders. The fissure in the party has been evident for quite few months,” said a senior BJP official, requesting anonymity. Sarangi did not comment on the allegations made against her.
In March this year, dissident BJP leaders had locked the entrance gate of state party office in Bhubaneswar protesting denial of assembly tickets to old workers. In Koraput district, BJP activists had ransacked the party office at Laxmipur opposing candidature of a man who joined the party after resigning from the BJD.
