Cuttack, Oct. 31: Chaos reigned supreme at the council meet of the municipal corporation (CMC) here today with councillors of the ruling BJD and the Congress hurling abuses at each other and resorting to vandalism.

Pandemonium began after Congress councillors raised the issue of irregularities in the preparation of the final list for the digitised ration cards under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). Serious trouble erupted after BJD councillor Chiranjay Sahu of ward No. 42 allegedly made some derogatory remarks against some Congress councillors. Tempers ran high as councillors hurled glasses as a result of which city engineer Umakant Gadnayak sustained a minor injury.

Congress councillors subsequently overturned a table in protest, saying Sahu's remarks were humiliating. They also targeted the BJD government for its alleged failure to tackle the drought situation in the state, which they said had led to farmer suicides. BJD councillors also raised slogans against the Congress.

"We had raised the issue of irregularities in the preparation of the ration card list and were protesting against the poor sanitation measures by the private agency called Ramky when the BJD councillor targeted our party," said Namita Manjari Sahoo, Congress councillor from ward No. 34.

Giribala Behera, leader of the Opposition from the Congress in the CMC council alleged the ruling BJD councillors intentionally disrupted the house proceedings to cover up the issue of irregularities in the ration card list, which has been prepared in a haphazard manner.

"We are demanding immediate suspension of ration card distribution as a number of eligible beneficiaries have been left out," said Behera.

Both the BJD and the Congress councillors blamed each other for today's disruption and unruly behaviour during the council meet and later staged a dharna outside the CMC office.

"We will continue to protest and intensify our agitation till the ruling party councillors apologise for their shameful behaviour," said Arun Sethi, Congress councillor from ward No. 18.

Chiranjay Sahu, BJD councillor and chairman of the CMC standing committee (works), refuted the allegations levelled against him by his Congress counterparts.

"It was they (Congress) who first made comments against the BJD and I opposed it. The Congress councillors first hurled glasses and then ransacked property which was opposed by us," said Sahu.

Senior officials of the CMC on the other hand condemned the unruly behaviour of councillors inside the house. "We have admitted that there have been lacunae in the preparation of list of new ration cards by the district administration. Steps are being taken for re-inclusion of the eligible beneficiaries who have been left out of the list," said Bikash Behera, BJD councillor from ward No. 9.

CMC commissioner Gyana Das said there had been discrepancies in the preparation of ration cards for which nearly 2.20 lakh forms were issued. While only 1.30 lakh applicants had submitted the forms, a list of only 65,000 beneficiaries has been finalised so far."A special cell consisting of six senior officers has been constituted to monitor applications to prepare the list of beneficiaries. The process of scrutiny and correction of errors will be completed by November 30," Das said.