Cuttack, July 29: The BJD and the Congress today clashed during discussion over dengue outbreak at the civic body meeting here.

Some of the councillors of both the parties exchanged blows, while the women members got involved in a tussle.

Trouble erupted shortly after Congress councillor from ward No. 4 Giribala Behera opposed the statements of BJD councillor Ramzan Khan praising officials of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation for effective handling of the dengue menace.

Reacting to the statement, Behera accused the ruling members of acting as chamchas of the corporation officials. Behera said the BJD members were trying to defend them for their failure in combating the dengue that had assumed serious proportions in the city. The Congress councillors alleged that over 626 cases of dengue had been reported so far and the corporation officials had failed to take concrete measures to contain the outbreak in the city.

"The BJD members attacked our councillors, and it is evident that they had come prepared for this as part of their strategy to counter and disrupt the meeting to avoid any discussion on the dengue situation," said Behera.

She further said the party members had lodged an FIR at Purighat police station against at least five BJD councillors for assaulting and threatening them during the meeting.

Itishree Behera, BJD councillor of ward No. 2, on the other hand, alleged that Congress councillor Arun Sethi had first misbehaved with her when she was trying to restore normality following the spat. "The Congress councillor pushed me and even misbehaved with me when I was trying to ensure that the council functioned smoothly. I will lodge a police complaint against him (Arun Sethi) for such behaviour," said Itishree.

Sethi, the Congress councillor from ward No 18, however, accused four BJD councillors, including Itishsree, Khan, Bijay Sahoo and Anil Niladri, of attacking and slapping him in the house. "It is unfortunate that when we were raising the dengue and other corruption issues, BJD councillors attacked us," said Sethi.

The Congress has demanded stern action against the ruling councillors for creating ruckus and attacking them during the council session.

Earlier, the Opposition parties, including the Congress and the BJP, had tried to corner the BJD over the dengue situation by staging a demonstration using mosquito nets and coils inside the council hall.

BJD councillors claimed that mayor Minakshee Behera had brought a motion for discussion on the dengue situation and asked the city health officer to brief the measures on the measures taken. "Instead of allowing the health officer to speak on the measures taken to combat dengue, the Opposition councillors disrupted the proceedings and used derogatory remarks against us," said Khan, who has denied the allegation of slapping anyone.

The mayor expressed displeasure over the behaviour of the councillors and termed the incident unfortunate.