ROURKELA: After the debacle in recent elections, the blame game in Sundargarh Congress has intensified with former Chief Minister Hemananda Biswal hitting back at George Tirkey for holding him responsible for the miserable performance of the party.
At a recent press conference, George had blamed Hemananda for party’s defeat in the elections.
Talking to this paper Hemananda said multiple factors left unaddressed for years were responsible for the miserable show and blaming him alone is unreasonable.
Hemananda alleged after being nominated, George did not show the minimum courtesy to meet him.
About his daughters, Hemananda said no political party is untouched by dynasty politics and his daughter Sunita is married for 15 years in a well-known family of Sundargarh.
Sunita quit Congress to join BJD at her own will and he had no control over it.
Drawing a parallel, Hemananda questioned George as to why he fielded his son Rohit Joseph Tirkey and he lost from Birmitrapur Assembly seat which is his traditional stronghold.
Following the spar between the two senior leaders, a sharp division has emerged in the district Congress with a section in the party targeting George.
The Congress had taken George into the party to buttress its pro-tribal credentials but local leaders are not too sure of his loyalty considering his political profile.
George had twice won as MLA on JMM ticket and then switched to BJD before 2004 elections.
He quit the ruling party in 2006 and went on to win Birmitrapur Assembly as Independent in 2009 and 2014.
Later, he founded the Samta Kranti Dal which was never active.
Before joining Congress in September 2018, he had returned to JMM for few months.
A close aide of George, Jagdish Agarwal, however, said he is committed to strengthen the Congress and there is no question of his quitting the party.
Rourkela District Congress Congress Committee president Rabi Ray said to hide his failure, George is blaming Congress.
An overconfident George ignored the meetings called by Election Steering Committee and Campaign Committee.