Rajendra Prasad Mohapatra

Bhubaneswar: Tension gripped the Old Town area during the launch of the Bindusagar cleaning initiative by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in the Capital City on Saturday.

According to reports, a minor scuffle broke out between BJD and BJP workers near the stage as they raised slogans targeting each other. They even went to the extent of pushing each other.

Tension ensued following the address by Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi (BJP) and a counter attacking speech by local BJD MLA and Social Security & Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Minister Ashok Panda.

“There should be coordination between the Centre and the State to complete the project within the stipulated period of four months. We always emphasise on coordination. Wherever there is coordination there is success,” said Sarangi.

Countering Sarangi, Panda claimed that the project will be completed within only four weeks.

“I don’t want to play politics over the remarks of Sarangi but want to assure that the project will be completed within four weeks of time against the target of four months,” Said Panda

“Earlier the Central government had assured to provide Rs 5 crore for the development of Dhauli. But they failed to keep their promise and provided only Rs 1 crore. However the State completed the project with Rs 5 crore from its own kitty,” he added in his speech. However, what irked the BJP workers was the boisterousness in Panda’s retort.

The saffron party workers shouted slogans against BJD which agitated the ruling party supporters. Pradhan was seen pacifying both the party workers during his speech.

Bindusagar, one of the State heritages and holy lakes in the temple city Bhubaneswar, is situated in the north of Lingaraj temple. The estimated cost for the revival and cleaning of the iconic lake is pegged at Rs 70 lakh which is being funded by the Indian Oil’s CSR fund. The project is being undertaken by the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Indian Oil (IOC) campus Bhubaneswar in collaboration with Odisha Bridge Construction Company.

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