As per reports, the convention attended by Rajya Sabha MP Baishnav Parida, Erasama MLA Prasant Muduli and Jagatsinghpur MLA Bishnu Das, turned in to a battle ground as the supporters of Damodar Rout raised questions over the non-invitation to Rout. Throwing of chairs among the supporters was seen at the convention.
When asked, Rout said to be unaware of the incident since he was not invited and was not present at the rally.
“I have been associated with the party for more than three decades and have always participated in such party programmes. As some people in my party didn’t want my presence there at the convention, I was not invited and people protested which was natural. Since I was not invited to the convention and was not present there, I cant say much on the issue”, said Damodar Rout, the BJD minister.
However, Rajya Sabha MP and senior member of the party Pyari Mohan Mohapatra said that the party is waiting for a detailed report on the incident from the district observer.
“We are waiting to have a detailed report on the incident from our district observer and action will be taken after that”, said Mohapatra.
Another Rajya Sabha MP and party member Baishnav Parida who was present at the convention said that the party is witnessing growing rifts among the leaders for which a disciplinary committee will be formed to address the issue.
“This is not the first incident where the party has witnessed commotion among workers. So the party president will form a disciplinary committee according to which action will be taken”, said Parida.
It may be noted that, in September last year, uproar was witnessed at the BJD convention presided by Bishnu Das for not inviting Rout and in another rally in December last year posters of the agriculture minister followed by commotion among party workers was witnessed.
Reacting on such growing differences, Prasant Muduli, MLA of Balikuda-Erasama said that such differences have already come to the fore which is very unfortunate.