Odisha Cong Rebels Demand Change Of Guard

Bhubaneswar: Ahead of the restructuring of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC), dissident party leaders on Wednesday demanded a change in the leadership.

The issue was discussed at a meeting presided over by Congress leader Bapi Sarkhel at Pantha Nivas here. It was attended by many former MLAs and MPs from the party, district presidents as well as youth and student leaders.

After the meeting, Sarkhel told the media that Congress is gradually losing the trust of the people as evident by its miserable show in the Assembly and general elections. “Under such circumstances, present OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik won’t be able to lead the party as the poll outcome clearly reflects his weak leadership,” Sarkhel added.

He further alleged that Congress in Odisha has become a signboard party as several senior leaders and sincere party workers have left the party due to the the OPCC president’s autocratic and selfish attitude.

“To bail out Congress from this critical phase, the members present at the meeting, unanimously proposed the name of the senior party leader and Cuttack MLA Mohammad Moquim as the OPCC president. We will apprise the party president, Sonia Gandhi, of the proposal. Besides, a delegation will meet her in New Delhi in the first week of November,” Sarkhel added.

The OPCC president was not available for comment.