Bhubaneswar: Ink was thrown at Odisha Congress chief Sarat Pattnayak inside party's headquarters in Bhubaneshwar on Friday, June 21. Two persons, yet to identified, entered the party headquarters in Bhubaneswar and threw ink at Pattnayak. 

The incident took place around 11.30 am when the two masked accused entered the Pattnayak's chamber in the Congress Bhavan here and splashed blue ink on his clothes, a senior party leader said, as reported by PTI. 

The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president said that such incidents cannot frighten him. “I am not frightened by the incident. Those who are jealous of the gradual growth of Congress in the state are behind the incident,” Pattnayak told reporters after the incident. After that he participated in a programme at the Master Canteen Square in the capital city to protest against the alleged irregularities in NEET-UG 2024 exams and corruption. 

Congress' Poor Performance in Polls 

The Bharatiya Janata Party swept the state in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha polls. The BJP also secured 78 of the 147 seats in the assembly elections, held simultaneously with 2024 Lok Sabha elections, thus ending Biju Janata Dal's 24-year rule.  

The Congress was decimated in the elections and could only manage to win one out of 21 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. Congress candidate Saptagiri Ulaka retained the Koraput Lok Sabha constituency.

In the assembly elections, the BJP won 78 seats, while the Congress could only secure 14 seats out of 147. However, the Congress party has increased its tally in the legislative assembly, from 9 members to 14 members this time.