General elections 2024: Odisha Congress Vice-President Rajat Choudhury quits party

At a time when it appeared that the Odisha unit of the Congress party was trying hard to strengthen its organisational structure, the party suffered yet another setback with senior leader Rajat Choudhury quitting the party. Choudhury, who held the post of vice-president of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), resigned from the primary membership of the party with immediate effect.

Choudhury was earlier holding key posts as president of the Youth President from 2014 to 2016 and later was appointed the general secretary of the Odisha Congress unit. It is said that Rajat Choudhury played a crucial role in the party, especially at organisation level. His resignation came on the day when the party was planning to stage a massive demonstration in Bhubaneswar.

As Choudhury was quite popular in the party and a frontline youth leader, his resignation is likely to have an impact on the Congress’ Odisha unit ahead of the crucial 2024 elections.

In his resignation letter, Choudhury wrote, “With a heavy heart, I am submitting my resignation with immediate effect. I am working for the party for last 24 years with different positions.”

Choudhury sent his resignation to PCC president Sarat Pattanayak and a copy has also been submitted to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior leaders including Rahul Gandhi. Choudhury’s resignation is seen as a major setback for the Congress as earlier several leaders including former MLA Anshuman Mohanty, Nihar Mahananda and Biplab Jena had quit the party ahead of the crucial general elections.