Bhubaneswar: With simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha barely weeks away, former Union Minister Srikant Jena returned to the Congress fold on Wednesday.
The four-time MP and three-time MLA rejoined the party in New Delhi in presence of Odisha in-charge Ajoy Kumar.
Speaking on the occasion, Jena said that he has always been a Congressman since his student days. “There were some misunderstanding which have been sorted for now. I have always worked for the party. I am happy to be back in the party again. There are challenges for the party in Odisha as both BJD and BJP are joining hands ahead of the elections. Congress and INDIA bloc will defeat them as their real face has been exposed,” he said.
He added that it is for the party to decide whether he will contest the upcoming elections.
LIVE: Eminent personality from Odisha join the INC at AICC HQ, New Delhi. https://t.co/zrPqHVIXES
— Congress (@INCIndia) March 6, 2024
The former Union Minister was expelled from Congress in January 2019 for his continuous anti-party comments. This came a month after, he openly challenged the leadership of the then state Congress president Niranjan Patnaik and resigned from all party posts. He was a member of the executive committee and the election committee of the Congress’s state unit.
Jena, however, softened his approach towards the party in the recent past and also praised Rahul Gandhi on a host of issues relating to tribals, Dalits and backward classes. Even after his expulsion from the party, he has never made any adverse remarks against Congress.
He represented the Balasore parliamentary constituency in the 15th Lok Sabha. He was the Minister of State (Independent charge) for Chemicals & Fertilisers and Statistics & Programme Implementation in the second UPA government led by Manmohan Singh. He was Union Minister of State, Small Scale Industry, Agro and Rural Industries in the V P Singh ministry.
Eyeing to grab power in Odisha in 2024, the Congress has been facilitating the return of a host of senior leaders, who in the past had jumped to other political outfits under different circumstances.
In January, former Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang rejoined the grand old party with his wife, Hema, and son, Shishir after hopping over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and then to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). Five-time MLA and former Biju Janata Dal (BJD) minister Balabhadra Majhi also joined the Congress later that month.
Actor Manoj Mishra joined the Congress in the presence of senior party leaders here in February.
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