NUAPADA : The BJD Zilla Parishad candidate Ramnaresh Ahir and his son Sushil were injured in an attack over alleged political rivalry in Nuapada district on Friday night. Election to Komna Zone II Zilla Parishad seat and the post of Sarpanch of Kurumpuri gram panchayat will be held on July 20. It could not be held earlier as the High Court had put it on hold over a petition to carve out a separate gram panchayat.
While Ramnaresh is the ZP BJD nominee for the Zilla Parishad seat, his daughter-in-law and wife of Sushil, Illeswari Ahir, is contesting for the post of Sarpanch of Kurumpuri. Contesting against Illeswari is Manju Gupta, who is wife of local BJP leader Sekhar Gupta.
Around 11 pm on Friday, supporters of both the candidates clashed at Kurumpuri Chowk on NH-353 under Lakhna police limits. Both Ramnaresh and Sushil received critical injuries in the clash. Sushil has sustained multiple fractures on his arm and was shifted to Raipur for specialised medical attention.
The BJP claimed that Gupta has also suffered injuries and has been rushed to Raipur for treatment. IIC of Lakhna police station S K Mallick said both the groups have filed complaints.
BJD condemns attack
Bhubaneswar:The BJD on Saturday condemned the attack on Ramnaresh Ahir, the party’s candidate for the by-poll to ZP Zone-2 in Nuapada district, allegedly by BJP workers. BJD secretary Bijay Nayak said Ahir and his two sons, seriously injured in the attack, have been admitted to the DHH. The BJP has taken recourse to violence as it is apprehensive of a defeat in the by-poll scheduled on July 20. The BJD activists demonstrated at Master Canteen here protesting the attack and burnt the effigy of State unit BJP president Basant Panda.
BJD MLAs Bijay Mohanty and Priyadarshi Mishra, Mayor of BMC Anant Narayan Jena and senior leaders were present. However, the BJP alleged that the BJD has taken recourse to violence in view of its decreasing popularity as it was evident in the ZP polls. Party MLA Pradip Purohit alleged that Shankar Prasad Gupta, husband of BJP candidate, was attacked by the BJD activists. Stating that BJP does not believe in violence, Purohit said the party accepts people’s verdict in a democratic manner.