BJD MP Tathagata Satpathy, who had gone to a village in Angul district as part of his party’s Gaon Ku Chala programme, faced the wrath of his own party activists on Thursday.
Sources said two factions in Nuagaon panchayat in the district led by the local sarpanch and Samiti member, who apparently were lat oggerheads with each other, had constructed two separate stages for the MP’s visit.
However, Satpathy skipped the Samiti member’s meeting and attended the sarpanch’s meeting, following which pandemonium prevailed.
Samiti member Ranjita Nayak’s irate supporters vandalised the stage they had constructed, set posters afire and shouted slogans against Satpathy.
Finding no way out, the MP apologised to Nayak and sped off from the spot by his car before the situation could deteriorate further.
However, the block chairman tried to play off the incident as a misunderstanding and said the MP was scheduled to attend the Samiti member’s meeting but lost his way.