Infighting disrupts BJD demo on petrol price

CUTTACK: Bitter infighting in the BJD unit in Cuttack district came to the fore on Saturday when members and leaders engaged in an open squabble during a demonstration at the Collectorate against the petrol price hike. The Cuttack district party unit on Saturday held a protest meeting to lay blame on the UPA Government for effecting the price hike in petrol. A memorandum was to be submitted to the Prime Minister through the Collector demanding withdrawal of the price hike.  However, trouble erupted when the party observer Amar Nayak took the stage and decried the absence of Cuttack-Barabati MLA Debasish Samantray from the city, when the people here were reeling from severe flood. This would have a telling impact on the party’s performance in the district, he went on to say.  As he veered away from the subject of protest to attack Samantray in the presence of Cuttack-Chowdwar MLA Pravat Biswal, District BJD president Dharmananda Behera and Mayor Soumendra Ghosh, the latter’s supporters were enraged. They got up to the dais and accosted Nayak.    A scuffle ensued and with the situation turning unpleasant, senior leaders left in a huff.  The demonstration was also called off without submission of the memorandum. While the incident has exposed cracks in the BJD organisation, it is more due to the power struggle between the two MLAs Samantray and Biswal, party observers said.