Youth Cong stages protest outside Sambit’s house

Bhubaneswar: Members of the Youth Congress on Sunday staged a protest outside the residence of BJP’s Puri MP and its national spokesperson Sambit Patra over his recent remarks against Rahul Gandhi. Holding posters and banners, several Youth Congress activists marched to Patra’s residence at Kalinga Vihar here, and were engaged in a scuffle with police personnel who prevented them from entering his house.

Patra, during a recent public meeting at Pipili in Puri, had alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is a “paid agent of China or Pakistan”. The BJP MP had made similar comments about Rahul in New Delhi on June 3. Patra’s remarks came after Rahul, while addressing a party convention in Madhya Pradesh, had alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “surrendered” after a call from US President Donald Trump during the India-Pakistan military conflict.

The Youth Congress activists also brought an ambulance to the protest site, claiming that Patra’s mental condition was not stable. “Patra has lost his mental balance. Earlier, he had claimed that PM Modi is bigger than Lord Jagannath. Now, he has made derogatory remarks against Rahul Gandhi. We have come here to take him to a mental hospital in the ambulance,” said Youth Congress State president Ranjit Patra. The BJP leader has tried to create disturbance and divide the country by making such a remark against Rahul, alleged Yashir Nawaz, another Youth Congress leader.