BHUBANESWAR: The discontentment in the BJD took an ugly turn on Monday night after party workers led by corporator Amaresh Jena gheraoed the residence of ex-minister and senior leader Sanjay Das Burma over non-inclusion of the former in the state council of the party.
Shouting slogans, the irate BJD workers wanted to know as to why Jena was not included in the state council of the party despite being a sitting corporator and former president of the Bhubaneswar organisational district.
The incident followed BJD president Naveen Patnaik’s discussion with senior leaders including Das Burma earlier in the day regarding formation of different committees of the party.
Das Burma had to assuage the party workers stating he has no role to play in the selection of the state council members. He, however, said Jena and his supporters had gone to his residence to inquire why he was not included in the state council. “The incident should not be given much importance as I had no role to play in this connection,” he added.
On the other hand, Jena alleged that a group of party leaders including Das Burma were trying to hijack the BJD organisation by attempting to get closer to the party president. “A majority of these leaders lost the 2024 election and spending their time in Bhubaneswar without visiting their constituencies,” he alleged.
Coming out in Jena’s support, another corporator Biranchi Mahasupakar also alleged that youth were not being given importance in the BJD organisation.