BHUBANESWAR: Factionalism in the state Congress came to the fore yet again with senior party MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati expressing his resentment over the appointment of leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) on Wednesday.
Staking his claim for the post, Bahinipati said he has all the credentials to be appointed as the CLP leader. The five-time MLA told mediapersons that he has served as the opposition chief whip from 2014 to 2019 and Congress whip in the Assembly from 2019 to 2024.
Congress MLA from Mohana Dasarathi Gamango said the party will announce the CLP leader in a day or two. Gamango was one of the nine tribal MLAs of the party who had met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at New Delhi last month to lobby for the appointment of Pottangi legislator Ramchandra Kadam as the CLP leader. But though more than a month has passed since the Assembly elections, Congress is yet to appoint the CLP leader.
Sources said during the last CLP meeting held in presence of Odisha in-charge Ajoy Kumar a month back, names of three MLAs, Bahinipati, Kadam and C Raazen Ekka were shortlisted and sent for the approval of the national leadership.