"I quit for the benefit of Congress"

Leader of Opposition and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Bhupinder Singh, who recently shunned all ties with the grand old party and joined BJD, is in the hot headlines for his statement about the internal affairs of the Congress party that forced him to break a 40 years old relationship. Let’s us meet the senior leader from Narla constituency of Kalahandi district---

Q, You recently joined BJD. You seem to be very happy when you were coming out of the party office yesterday with Kalpataru Das. What actually prompted you to quit Congress? Do you think that a caste-based politics Congress is playing in current scenario?

A, First thing is that anybody who comes in contact with me once, he becomes very close to me. Congress had never played politics on caste. I have been observing since very beginning. I was told to leave Leader of Opposition post in order to garner more votes as the party wanted to replace me with a tribal MLA. I was also very happy that if I resign then party will benefit. But, the party did not follow appropriate norms. It is very unfortunate that Congress had never played a caste card ever.

Q, When you became cabinet minister, Congress did not give your portfolio to any other SC/ST leader. How can you now say about a caste based politics? Who asked you to quit the CLP post?

A, I do not know about that politics. But here, there are some exceptions. On the one hand, party is formulating guidelines and reserving seats for particular castes and communities and on the other hand the party leaders themselves are violating on some of the particular seats. I always used to suggest the top leaders that the guidelines should be strictly followed. The norms cannot be applied differently. But it did not happen. Odisha in-charge BK Hariprasad asked me to leave the post.

Q, Are you angry on Hariprasad for this reason?

A, No, this is not his decision only. The leader of opposition has no work now. Only CLP leader has the work in the party to attend Central Election Committee meeting and Screening Committee meeting during finalization of tickets. But some leaders including Union minister Srikant Jena, Bhakta Das and also PCC president Jayadev Jena perhaps did not want me to attend the meetings. Jayadev Jena is my close friend as we have been in politics since 1980. I suggested him honestly that you are the PCC president of Odisha not the president of a particular group and we have to prove it through action. This is unfortunate that he did not call party observers to the meeting. The Congress tradition was buried.

Q, Is not it an exception when a leader of opposition resigns from the party?

A, I have always been giving priorities to the people’s opinion. The people who voted me to Assembly, I have been working for them in order to make my area no 1. When I sought their views over my decision, they suggested me to quit and join BJD. Even, I consulted 10 to 12 party MLAs to convene CLP meeting where I wished to tender my resignation, but they were not agree on the ground that Congress would invite disaster. Same thing had taken place during Gamang government and since then Congress failed to return to power for 14 years.

Q, You were involved in the Congress politics for last 40 years. Have not you felt sorry when you left party?

A, Yes of course. But I have not committed any wrong for Congress. When I was told that if I would quit, the party would garner more votes. So, I quit for the benefit of Congress.