Bhubaneswar: In a swift move following unrest at the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Odisha unit suspended five of its members on Tuesday, including a local corporator. The disciplinary action was confirmed by the party’s state president, Manmohan Samal, citing internal misconduct.
According to sources, in connection with yesterday’s attack at the BMC office, the BJP has suspended five of its supporters, who are accused of the assault, from the party’s primary membership. Among those suspended is corporator Aparupa Narayan Rout, also known as Jiban Rout, a prominent face in local politics.
Alongside Jiban Rout, Rashmi Ranjan Mahapatra, and Debashis Pradhan have also faced suspension. The list further includes Sachikant Swain and Sanjeeb Mishra. All five individuals have been relieved from their positions as primary members of the party.
The disciplinary decision was taken by the BJP’s state president following preliminary internal reviews. Party sources indicated the suspensions were made in response to violations of party discipline and their alleged involvement in the BMC assault incident, which has caused political ripples across the State Capital.
The BJP is expected to conduct a deeper inquiry into the matter while maintaining a strict stance on organisational discipline and public image. No comments were received from the BJP leadership or suspended members in this regard.
Worth mentioning, tension had gripped the BMC office after the accused BJP workers assaulted the civic body’s Additional Commissioner Ratnakar Sahoo during a public hearing. The incident prompted heavy police deployment to prevent further unrest.
“I was present at the grievance hearing session, and it was about to end when around five people entered the room. There were less number of grievances today. Initially, I thought that they perhaps had some grievances. Our corporator, Jiban Babu, was also present there. He asked me ‘Sir, did you tell anything to Jaga Bhai? Did you misbehave him?’ I replied to him ‘No, I did not misbehave with anyone,” Sahoo narrated to mediapersons.
“All of a sudden, they (the five-six persons who had entered) started manhandling me and dragging me and did this (assaulted) to me. I cannot say anything (the reason behind the attack), as I do not recognise the person at all,” the Additional Commissioner stated.
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