The infighting in the State unit of grand old Congress party is out in the open once again with Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik saying former OPCC chief Prasad Harichandan was knowingly excluded from the party's star campaigners' list for the ensuing Panchayat Poll.
"His (Harichandan) name has knowingly been struck off from the list of star campaigners," Patnaik said on Tuesday.
Terming the matter as the party's ‘internal affair’, Patnaik said there was no need to include one's name in the list if he didn't join campaigning. "We have selected those leaders who are eager to campaign," he added.
When asked about Harichandan breaking down during a press conference, Patnaik said, “The answer to this question might be given after the elections.”
Harichandan's father-in-law and senior Congress leader Suresh Routray, in his reaction on the development, said Prasad Harichandan and Niranjan Patnaik are poles apart. "While one (Harichanadan) is a treasure trove of knowledge, the other one (Patnaik) is blessed with wealth. I don't want to intervene in their tussle. However, I hope they should bury the hatchet," said Routray.
Notably, Harichandan had convened a press conference on January 27 wherein he tore into the party leadership for creating roadblocks during the forthcoming crucial Panchayat elections in the State.
At the press meet the former OPCC chief was seen unable to hold back his emotions and addressed scribes with teary eyes. He also came down on the rumour mills while rubbishing the speculations then doing round in the political circle about him making a clandestine deal with the ruling BJD.
A tearful Harichandan, in a veiled reference to the PPC chief, said, "I am not a businessman and I don’t make deals. I don’t make money from ‘water’ or mines."
The senior leader also made it clear that he will not be contesting in the 2024 general elections though he will continue to remain in politics.