Two groups of Youth Congress clash at party headquarters

A clash broke out between two groups of the Congress youth wing in Odisha's Bhubaneswar after newly appointed party President Smruti Ranjan Lenka reached the party headquarters on Tuesday.

Bhubaneswar: Two groups of the youth wing of the Congress in Odisha clashed at the state party headquarters here on Tuesday, police said.

The clash took place when newly appointed Odisha Pradesh Youth Congress (OPYC) President Smruti Ranjan Lenka reached the state party officials and members of a rival group resisted his entry into the building.

The rival group which opposed Lenka's appointment had also allegedly locked the main gate of the party office when the new state youth wing president and his supporters reached Congress Bhawan.

A heated exchange broke out between the two groups when Lenka and his supporters tried to enter into the party office premises.

It subsequently led to a clash between the two factions and police were informed, a police officer said. Police tried to pacify both the factions and used mild force in order to bring the situation under control, he said.

Lenka later interacted with youth Congress leaders who had come from different districts of the state and discussed strategies to strengthen the organisation, party sources said.

(PTI)