Bhubaneswar: Infighting has resumed in the state Congress unit for the change of guard in the party. Interestingly, just two days ago the former chairperson of Nabarangpur Zilla Parishad, Manjula Majhi who was also a veteran Congress leader had joined the ruling BJD here citing ‘infighting’ as the main reason.
Taraprasad Bahinipati, party’s chief whip in state legislative assembly and MLA from Jeypore, suggested that not just the Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) leadership needed to be looked into but structural changes in the party’s existing rank and file were imperative for its revival.
However, he admitted that the decision to bring about any change in the party’s present rank and file was always the prerogative of the party’s high-command.
Bahinipati’s discontentment indicated that all was not well in the Grand Old Party’s camp. Furthermore, the absence of OPCC chief Prasad Harichandan in the meeting attended by senior Congress leaders, held at the official residence of Leader of Opposition (LoP) Narasingha Mishra Sunday, has sparked speculations of a simmering internal squabble.
Senior Congress leaders such as former OPCC chief Niranjan Patnaik, MLA Bahinipati, Naba Das, Anshuman Mohanty, Prafulla Majhi and Devendra Sharma who attended the meeting refrained from divulging anything that transpired during the meeting.
Demand for the change of guard in state Congress unit has echoed from within the party many times, more so in the wake of party’s debacle in this year’s Panchayat polls.
Many from the party had already met AICC (All India Congress Committee) Vice President Rahul Gandhi regarding this but they have always failed to get a desired response from the high-command, sources said.
Some leaders opined that if the rift remains unresolved then it may prove more damaging for the party in the upcoming 2019 elections which are hardly two years away.
Interestingly, party leaders like Suresh Routray dismissed any sort of infighting in the party but Congress MLA from Rajnagar Anshuman Mohanty admitted that it was difficult on the part of state Congress unit to say anything on the change in party’s present rank and file in the state.
Post News Network
