The rift in the State Congress unit worsened when the party witnessed a serious clash between two groups at its State headquarters in the presence of Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik on Thursday.
The rival groups of the Jagatsinghpur district Congress had faceoff during an Odisha Backward Classes (OBC) Cell meeting of the party chaired by the cell’s president Bishnu Charan Barik at the Congress Bhawan here.The party workers physically assaulted each other, tore down the posters of Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and ransacked the furniture at the building.
Bishnu Barik had convened the meeting, during which the infighting in the party intensified as the rival groups scuffled with each other in the presence of the PCC president.
Reports said Barik also assaulted a section of the protesting party workers at the meeting. Barik’s opponents alleged that he has developed link with BJD leaders in his Jagatsinghpur district.
However, Barik said, “I am with the Congress since 1978. I hit the protestors back when they attacked me during the meeting,” he said. It is alleged that Barik had worked against party leader Chiranjib Biswal in Jagatsinghpur and supported Biswal’s BJD rival candidate Prasanta Muduli in the 2019 elections. Muduli won the Assembly poll. PCC chief Patnaik said the incident at the Congress Bhawan would be probed and action would be taken against those found guilty.
The workers who are accusing Barik of antiparty activity could have brough the matter to the notice of the PCC and the AICC, he said, adding that such unpleasant incidents are further damaging the party’s already-battered image.