BHUBANESWAR: Factionalism once again came to the fore in state Congress as campaigning for the Jharsuguda bypoll came to an end on Sunday with former working president Chiranjib Biswal questioning the party’s efforts for a better performance this time.
Addressing a function here, Chiranjib lashed out at the president of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Sarat Pattanayak for not being democratic in his actions. Alleging that no one is being consulted by the president on how to take the party forward, Biswal said such behaviour is typical with anyone who helms the party in the state. This is the biggest disease afflicting the party, he added.
Chiranjib, the elder son of one-time Congress heavyweight Basant Kumar Biswal, said the party has only 9 MLAs but 20 chief minister aspirants. Alleging nobody knows how Congress’ campaign is progressing at Jharsuguda, the former MLA wondered whether the party can field candidates in all the 147 Assembly seats in the 2024 elections.
“Those nourishing a constituency are being denied tickets. Youths who are actively working are also not getting adequate opportunities,” he added. Questioning the ‘9 to 90’ slogan of the OPCC president, Chiranjib alleged senior Congress leaders are not making field visits and wasting their time in Congress Bhavan. The OPCC president, however, refused to comment on Chiranjib’s statements. “At present, our focus is on Jharsuguda by-election. It is an internal matter of Congress and we will look into it,” he added.