Odisha: Cong suspends Chiranjib, Moquim from party

Bhubaneswar: The Congress party has placed its senior leader Chiranjib Biswal and Barabati-Cuttack MLA Mohammed Moquim under suspension for their alleged anti-party activities.

The Disciplinary Action Committee (DAC) of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) had earlier served notices on Biswal and Moquim and sought their explanation on the issue.

“The replies received from the two leaders were carefully considered and found to be unsatisfactory,” said Tariq Anwar, Member Secretary-DAC, AICC, in a notification today.

Accordingly, the DAC has decided to place both the leaders under suspension from the party with immediate effect, added the notification.

Earlier, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Sarat Pattanayak had complained before the AICC that both Biswal and Moquim were engaged in anti-party activities.

Biswal had been elected to Odisha Assembly twice on Congress tickets in the past. He is the elder son of former Deputy Chief Minister Basanta Biswal. Biswal was party’s deputy leader in Assembly from 2014-19. He had also acted as party’s working president in Odisha for some years.

Moquim had earlier worked as president of Congress unit in Cuttack city. He got elected to Odisha Assembly for the first time in 2019. The Barabati-Cuttack MLA had voted for NDA nominee Droupadi Murmu in the presidential election in 2022.

Notably, Moquim and Biswal had expressed their views regarding the prevailing condition in OPCC in a meeting in Odisha capital some days ago.