Sambalpur: At a time when the top echelons of BJP are upbeat over its organisation following a massive mandate in the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand assembly elections, the internal rift within leaders came to the fore here during the Zilla Parishad chairperson selection today.
Senior leader and vice-president of BJP’s Odisha unit Samir Mohanty faced the ire of party activists who allegedly attacked the former inside the party office.
According to reports, Mohanty, who was appointed as party observer for Sambalpur zone, has sustained injuries after a scuffle took place between two groups of his own party activists here today.
Sources said that the scuffle was the fallout of the ongoing infighting and dissent particularly between the two senior leaders--Suresh Pujari and Jaynarayan Mishra as they wanted their candidates to be picked for the top post.
“Party had unanimously decided a candidate for chairman post. However, some party activists wanted their candidate to be considered for the post for which there was resentment among them. It is an internal matter which will be sorted out,” said Mohanty.
Senior leader of the party, Jaynarayan Mishra on the other hand claimed that the change in the candidate for the ZP chairman sparked off resentment among the party activists which led to the unrest.
In another development, tension prevailed in Koraput following a tussle between two groups of BJD.
Protesting against decision of the party for not picking Dumuri Khila, an aspirant for the chairperson post, the supporters staged a demonstration and later burnt the party flag.