Bhubaneswar: Tension flared up at Congress Bhawan here Tuesday following a group clash between two groups of Congress workers supporting different candidates for Odisha Pradesh Youth Congress (OPYC) presidentship.
While one group supported the appointment of Smruti Ranjan Lenka as president of OPYC, the other group was seen vehemently opposing him.
According to a source, Smruti had decided to convene a meeting of youth leaders from all the districts at the Congress Bhawan Tuesday. After he and other youth leaders reached the office, they found the main gate locked.
Besides, there were nearly two hundred people inside the campus who forcibly resisted Smruti and his team’s entry into the office. This subsequently led to a group clash between the two factions.
Police were called in. The crowd dispersed after a mild baton-charge. The cops have detained one person for his alleged involvement in the violence.
While talking to OP, Youth Congress leader Itish Pradhan said that he suspected foul play by some senior leaders including OPCC chairman Niranjan Patnaik in the entire incident. “They are doing so because they don’t want to allow anyone coming from poor and non-Congress political backgrounds to emerge as leaders,” he said.
PNN
