Political slugfest begins in Odisha over ink attack on 5T secretary  

The incident of ink being thrown at the Odisha 5T secretary has resulted in a political slugfest with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) holding each other responsible for the incident. 

The ruling BJD's Satyabadi MLA Umashankar Samantaray sees a conspiracy behind the incident. 

“There is a big conspiracy behind the incident. The person who threw the ink is a BJP activist. In fact, the BJP had implanted him to throw ink at the 5T secretary. The truth will be out definitely,” said Samantaray. 

On the other hand, BJP MP from Bhubaneswar, Aparajita Sarangi said his (Bhaskar Sahoo’s) protest is right but the way of showing it is wrong. 

“A youth from Puri district opposed the visit of a secretary-level officer. I can understand his feelings. I can understand his pain. The Chief Minister has not been able to go around. He has no faith in his team members or ministers, MPs and MLAs. And, a low-level officer is moving around and collecting grievances. The youth vented out his ire. The way he did it is wrong but the protest is right,” said Sarangi.

However, OPCC chief Sarat Patttanayak termed the ink attack as a strategy of the BJP and the BJD. 

"The person who threw ink has been released by the police. People in Odisha know that both BJP and BJD are one. The ink attack was only to show that they are different and gain sympathy. No matter what strategy is being followed, Congress will get votes," said Pattanayak. 

OPCC Campaign Committee chairman Bijay Patnaik dubbed what happened in Satyabadi as a part of the 'ongoing drama'. 

“He (5T secretary) shouldn’t surpass the Laxman Rekha. He should do what is congruous to his job. He should not cross his limit and misutilise his powers. And, he should refrain from all political activities he is doing by taking the CM’s name. His going around the state is part of a drama and the Chief Minister is also involved in it,” Patnaik observed.