‘Coterie using Cong for personal gains’

Reported by Chinmay Dehury

Bhubaneswar, Mar 9:

Former PCC president and senior Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik today alleged that the party is being run by a vested interest group and senior leaders in the party are being either neglected or totally ignored.

“The allegation of neglect of senior leaders in Congress party is true. It seems the party is controlled by a coterie to promote their personal interests. If all the leaders are not taken into confidence, it will prove disastrous for the party in coming elections,” said Patnaik.

Reacting to Bhupindar Singh’s statement that he was asked to quit his position as the CLP leader, he said “if true, it is rather unfortunate, because a political party should not operate this way.”

Patnaik was echoing the feelings and sentiments of many other leaders of the state Congress including those  who have chosen to quit the party over the last few days.All the leaders, who have left the party, have one grouse in common and that is that the state leadership had been sidelining them and taking major decisions without taking other senior leaders into confidence.

However, Union Minister and chief of Odisha poll campaign committee Srikant Jena rubbished Singh’s allegations and accused him of maintaining a ‘close and secret relationship’ with the BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik over the years.

” Their ‘sweet relationship’ has been revealed to the people of Odisha after he joined the ruling party,” said Jena.

Earlier in the day, AICC General secretary in charge of Odisha BK Hariprasad had termed the deserters including Singh as opportunists and migratory birds and claimed their action will have no effect on the party.