BHUBANESWAR: The All India Congress Committee (AICC’s) effort to set its Odisha House in order by dissolving the state unit and forming a 14-member steering committee to oversee organisational matters in the interim has run into rough weather from the start.
Senior leader Panchanan Kanungo on Sunday raised objection to the appointment of party’s Odisha in-charge Ajoy Kumar as the head of the steering committee asking why a person from outside the state should lead the organisation here.
“It is unfortunate that a non-Odia has been made the chairman of the committee formed by the AICC. Were they unable to find a suitable Odia leader for the position?” Kanungo asked.
Stating that AICC in-charge for the state had never been a chairman of any committee before, he sought to know the purpose behind the formation of the steering committee.
“Instead of trying to examine the real reasons behind the party’s debacle in the elections, the AICC has suddenly constituted the committee to suppress the weaknesses of those who were in charge,” he said.
Supporting Kanungo, MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati alleged the party is being run by a coterie in the state. “A division is deliberately being created in the party. If such things continue it will be very bad for the Congress,” he said.