Bhubaneswar: In an outburst, veteran Congressman and former Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh, who switched over to Biju Janta Dal (BJD) on Saturday, cited OPCC is run by a coterie as the prime reason behind his move.
"Though I was the Leader of Opposition, I was kept ignorant about developments in the party. Here, a group of self-interested people is working in the OPCC. The moral of the Congress party are being put in grave. I took the decision to leave the Congress party as these things had become unbearable for me," Singh told newsmen today afternoon.
Further, Singh said he was asked by the party to submit his resignation papers as the CLP leader. "They wanted to make someone from minorities group to be the CLP leader in Odisha," he added.
Earlier in the day, Congress's two senior leaders Bhupinder Singh and Anup Sai -- leader of opposition and legislature party secretary respectively -- met Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik at his residence and joined BJD.
While Singh represents Narla constituency in Kalahandi district in the outgoing assembly, Sai was MLA from Brajrajnagar segment in Jharsuguda district.
Sai said they decided to quit Congress as they felt several leaders, including them were being ignored by the party which was functioning in an arbitrary manner.
Their resignations from Congress came after days of speculations in political circles about Singh quitting the party and joining BJD.