With the panchayat elections in the State nearing, tension mounted in the Sadar block office following a faceoff between BJD and BJP workers on Thursday.
The supporters of BJD and BJP sat on dharna in front of the block office accusing each other over distribution of pension among the beneficiaries. BJD leaders including Sadar MLA Swarup Das sat in a dharna while Kasipada Sarpanch Anita Behera of the BJP along with her supporters also staged a dharna in front of the office of the Block Development Officer (BDO).
The BJP activists alleged that they were not informed about the pension distribution programme. Behera and her supporters allegedly made derogatory remarks against the block staffs and MLA Das, following which Das with his supporters sat on the dharna. Behera also in protest resorted to her sit-in.
After a few hours following discussions between the two parties in the presence of police and other officials, the tension was diffused and both withdrew their agitations.
