Balasore: Resentment is brewing up in Balasore unit of Congress post declaration of the list of party candidates for first and second phase polls. The local party workers have been opposing the candidature of newly inducted Mahanadi Banchao Andolan chief and member of Jaleswar Vikash Mancha Sudarsan Das from Jaleswar Assembly constituency.
It may be noted that former Jaleswar MLA Debi Prasanna Chand had resigned from party and joined BJP citing that he was neglected and that Congress is no more a people’s party.
Supporters of Jaleswar Assembly Constituency ticket aspirants Tapan Das and Madhusudan Das questioned the decision to name Das as party candidate despite the presence of senior leaders in the party.
"How can a new member like Sudarsan, who joined Congress around three months back, be allotted a ticket to contest the upcoming elections?" asked a supporter.
Tapan and Madhusudan held a meeting during which they clearly stated that both the leaders would not support Sudarsan. They have also urged the high command to re-think on the ticket allotment decision and threatened to file nomination papers as independent candidates. However, Congress is yet to comment on the matter.
"The candidate who has been fielded by the party is a resident of other district. We are not going to support him in any condition. The meeting was held to protest the decision of All India Congress Committee (AICC) and the Pradesh Congress Committee. We will wait for three to four days and hope that the decision on the ticket allotment will be revised," stated Jaleswar Congress leader and ticket aspirant Madhusuda Das.
On the other hand, a complaint has been lodged at Capital Police Station in connection with the ransacking of Congress Bhawan by a group of youths in Bhubaneswar on March 23. The secretary of Congress Bhawan, Baidyanath Swain lodged the complaint on Sunday.
On March 23, a group of youths barged into the Congress Bhavan and damaged tables, chairs and many computers inside the office. They were allegedly protesting announcement of Rashmirekha Mohapatra as the party’s candidate from the Ekamra-Bhubaneswar assembly constituency.