The ongoing crisis in the Odisha Congress that erupted with the resignation of one of its working president Naba Kishore Das a few days ago has further deepened with the expulsion of former Union Minister Srikant Jena and former legislator Krushna Chandra Sagaria from the primary membership of the party late on Saturday night.
Sundargarh legislator Jogesh Singh had resigned from the Congress on Friday, following his suspension from the party for alleged anti-party activities on Thursday.
Mr. Singh’s suspension came just two days after the working president quit the party stating that the people of Jharsuguda constituency wanted him to contest the coming polls as a nominee of the ruling Biju Janata Dal for the development of their area.
Meanwhile, Mr. Jena and Mr. Sagaria, who were expelled for their alleged anti-party activities, reacted to their expulsion in different ways on Sunday.
While Mr. Jena strongly questioned his expulsion, Mr. Sagaria said the Congress had been unfair to him as he was never involved in anti-party activities.
The aggrieved former Union Minister went on to allege that there is Mahagathbandhan between Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik.
He announced that he will campaign in the State to justify his allegations and “expose their secrets”. He said that he will reveal more facts on January 25 which could prove to be embarrassing for the Congress leadership. Mr. Gandhi is scheduled to visit Bhubaneswar on the same day.
Mr. Jena further alleged that Mr. Gandhi wants that “Odisha should continue to be ruled by the Patnaiks”. He was referring to Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik, whose younger brother Soumya Ranjan Patnaik is a Rajya Sabha Member of the BJD.
Reacting to Mr. Jena’s statements, the OPCC president said that there was no place for indisciplined members in their party. No prominent leader in the State Congress, however, came out to criticise Mr. Jena’s expulsion.
‘Allegation justified’
On the other hand, the BJP Justified Mr. Jena’s allegations saying both Congress and BJD were hand in glove with the mining mafia. Since it emerged as the number two party in the panchayat elections in the State in early 2017, the BJP has been striving hard to perform better than the Congress in the coming simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
According to analysts, the Congress is still struggling to put house in order as there is rumour of more of its leaders quitting the party in the run up to the polls.
Published - January 20, 2019 11:04 pm IST
