Tomatoes hurled at Pandian

Berhampur: A Congress activist from Belaguntha block hurled tomatoes at 5T Chairman and BJD leader V K Pandian during ‘Ama Odisha Nabin Odisha’ programme at Belaguntha in Ganjam district on Thursday.

Though the tomatoes missed Pandian, the BJD workers present there overpowered him. The incident took place when Pandian reached the stage around 11.30 am. Police immediately arrested the youth and the programme went on as scheduled. The accused youth has reportedly been opposing various programmes of Pandian for the last few months. However, Pandian, who addressed the gathering, said, “You can throw eggs, tomatoes and ink at me or even fire bullets but it would not stop me from meeting and serving the people of Odisha”. Earlier, Pandian, a bureaucrat-turned-politician, had faced black flag protests and also an ink attack. A person in Puri district in August last year had hurled ink at Pandian when he was serving as the Secretary (5T) to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.