BHUBANESWAR: With allegations of transfer of votes leading to the party’s humiliating show in the Jharsuguda bypoll getting louder, the president of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Sarat Pattanayak on Sunday announced that the result will be reviewed at a high-level meeting soon.
A team of senior leaders will also leave for Jharsuguda on Monday to find out the reasons behind the defeat of the party candidate, the OPCC president said and added that the report will be submitted to the All India Congress Committee (AICC). Pattanayak, however, avoided a direct reply on the allegations of transfer of Congress votes made by some party leaders.
“The BJD knows how it is winning elections. The BJP also knows what it is doing to get votes. The money and muscle power of one party has defeated the same tactic employed by the other political party,” he said.
Meanwhile, senior Congress legislator Suresh Kumar Routray said that the party failed to keep its votes secure. The party fought the bypoll in a half-hearted manner for which the votes got transferred. Besides, the disinterest shown by senior leaders to campaign for the party candidate also resulted in the defeat, he said.
Routray alleged that except for the Mahila and Chhatra Congress groups, none campaigned for the party candidate seriously. “We have so many general secretaries, secretaries, vice presidents, ex-MLAs, ex-MPs and ex-ministers. None of them turned out to campaign for our candidate,” he complained.
Senior Congress legislator Tara Prasad Bahinipati also alleged that there was a transfer of Congress votes. Losing of deposits by Congress candidates has become a trend, he said and added that the party leadership should be serious about this.