Bhubaneswar, October 17: Tension flared in Jajpur district on Thursday when eggs were thrown at former BJD MLA Pranab Kumar Balabantaray's vehicle during his visit to Laxmi Puja pandals in Kurikana village.
The incident occurred within the Dharmasala Assembly constituency, where a group of youths shouted slogans and targeted Balabantaray’s vehicle.
Despite the attack, Balabantaray continued his visits to the pandals, with police from Jenapur police station launching an investigation into the matter.
Balabantaray suggested that supporters of Dharmasala MLA Himanshu Sekhar Sahoo might have been involved.
Sahoo, an independent candidate, defeated Balabantaray in the 2024 Assembly elections.
Balabantaray, the son of late minister and Rajya Sabha MP Kalpataru Das, had been elected to the Assembly in 2014 and 2019 on BJD tickets and is known to have strong ties to the party leadership.