Cong workers clash inside party headquarters in Bhubaneswar

An MLA of that party is my younger brothers friend who visits our house as a family friend, Barik told reporters.OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik said the incident will be investigated and appropriate action will be taken.Whatever happened at Odisha Congress Bhawan here is disturbing and unfortunate.

Congress workers clashed inside the party state headquarters here in the presence of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president and other leaders on Thursday.

The trouble broke out before the commencement of the state council meeting of the party's OBC cell.

A stage erected in the premises of Congress Bhawan here for the meeting was damaged in the clash.

A group of party leaders strongly opposed and allegedly manhandled Bishnu Charan Barik, the president of the state OBC cell accusing him of working against the Congress candidate in the recently held by-election in Tirtol assembly seat.

They alleged that Barik despite heading the OBC cell worked for the ruling BJD candidate in Tirtol by-poll who won the election.

Bariks supporters retaliated against the group opposed to him.

Barik and his family members had allegedly campaigned for BJD during the last by-election.

Party workers demanded that the PCC president should remove Barik from the party immediately.

Rejecting the allegations, Barik said that he belonged to Congress for decades and had not indulged in any anti-party activities.

I have no political link with BJD. An MLA of that party is my younger brother's friend who visits our house as a family friend, Barik told reporters.

OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik said the incident will be investigated and appropriate action will be taken.

''Whatever happened at Odisha Congress Bhawan here is disturbing and unfortunate. The party has taken into cognizance the allegations against both sides. Congress will not tolerate indicipline as it stands for principles and integrity, he said.

Patnaik said the president of the state OBC cell is appointed by the AICC and not the PCC. Therefore, the party will take a decision after a thorough inquiry into the incident.

The Congress has been out of power in Odisha since 2000 and even lost its number two position in the state in 2019 which paved the way for BJP to emerge as the principal opposition.

The party had won only one of the 21 parliamentary seats in the state in 2019.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)