BHUBANESWAR: Bitter factional fight in State Congress was on public display again on Saturday with former Union Minister Srikant Jena and former legislator Krushna Chandra Sagaria staging a dharna in front of Raj Bhavan here demanding waiver of farm loans and hike in minimum support price of paddy to Rs 2,930 per quintal.
The dharna by the group of dissident Congress leaders comes a day after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme for farmers and rejected the demand for farm loan waiver. At the same time when Jena and his group was on dharna, senior spokesperson of AICC Abhishek Manu Singhvi was addressing a press conference at Congress Bhavan here where he came down heavily on the State Government for neglecting farmers and announcement of KALIA scheme.
Though the dharna was for championing the cause of farmers, Jena used the opportunity to target Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik by raising the issue of mining mafia without naming him. Demanding waiver of farm loans, hike in MSP on paddy to `2,930 per quintal and pension provision of `3,000 per month to farmers, Jena said this will be a burden for State Government which has not collected `50,000 crore from ‘mining mafia’.
Jena has consistently raised the issue of mining mafia ever since he was removed as chairman of OPCC manifesto committee and replaced with former minister Ganeswar Behera. Statements made by him against Niranjan has already been deliberated by Disciplinary Committee of OPCC, headed by former Chief Minister Hemananda Biswal. Recommendation of the Disciplinary Committee has been submitted to the High Command. However, the party refrained from taking any action against him so far.
The dharna was held by an organisation fighting for social justice so that Jena and his group cannot be accused of running activities parallel to the state Congress. The dharna was also attended by former minister Kanhu Charan Lenka and former chairman of Disciplinary Committee Sandhya Mohapatra.