Intra-party rift deepens in Odisha Congress after poll debacle

Bhubaneswar: Following the poll debacle of Congress, mudslinging within the party has intensified. During a review meeting at Congress Bhawan in Bhubaneswar, several party candidates blamed anti-party activities of some leaders as the reason behind the poor show during the general polls.

Without mentioning anyone’s name during the review meeting, Congress leader George Tirkey stated that he lost the poll due to the conspiracy of own party leaders.

PCC disciplinary committee chairman, Hemananda Biswal, on the other hand, today targeted Tirkey for his statements saying that he cannot be a great leader by getting close with AICC chief Rahul Gandhi.

“Congress party is a sea and he is just a drop in it. There is no people’s support in favour of Congress. The BJP wave bulldozed everyone in the State during the polls. Therefore, there is no point in blaming anyone,” Biswal said.

OPCC chief, Niranjan Patnaik said, “Congress has become weak at the grassroots and there are a lot of reasons behind the poll debacle. It is wrong to blame any individual for the poor show of the party.”

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra said a 21-member committee will begin its review soon to find out the reasons of the poll debacle.

“Under my chairmanship, a committee has been formed to find out the reasons. The members of the committee will travel throughout Odisha and get the details,” Mishra said.