Bhubaneswar, (Orissa Today), June 1: A BJP booth president was critically injured after allegedly being stabbed by BJD workers in the Kendrapada Lok Sabha constituency, as violence marred the final phase of polling in several parts of Odisha on Saturday.
According to preliminary reports, BJP workers claimed that their party’s booth president was stabbed by BJD activists during voting at booth number 35 in Kendrapada. A complaint has been lodged with the police regarding the incident.
In a separate incident, a BJP worker named Rashmi Ranjan Jena was injured after allegedly being attacked with a sharp weapon by BJD activists in Nilakanthapur panchayat of Pattamundai in Kendrapada district.
Similarly, tension escalated in the Salepur area following a violent attack on the BJP MLA candidate’s agent and three others, allegedly by BJD workers, at booths number 184 and 185 in Malasasan during polling. BJP workers claimed that BJD activists assaulted them when they objected to an act of booth capturing. Despite the presence of police personnel, the BJP workers asserted that the officers remained passive observers. Five people were reportedly injured in the attack.
The BJP accused BJD’s Ramesh Jena of orchestrating the attacks by deploying numerous people. Sanjay Rout, the election agent of BJP MLA candidate Arindam Roy, called for a repoll in the affected booths, alleging they were captured by BJD workers.
