Bhubanewar: The squabbling between Odisha’s senior Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati and Koraput MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka took a new turn on Thursday when the former held a meeting with AICC general secretary KC Venugopal in New Delhi.
According to sources, Jeypore MLA Bahinipati along with his supporters met Venugopal in the office of All India Congress Committee (AICC) in the national capital. The meeting holds significance as Bahinipati and his supporters had raised their voice of opposition against removal of the MLA’s wife Minakshi Bahinipati from district president post last month.
Speaking to media persons on the meeting, the MLA said it was a courtesy call. “We have not spoken against any party leader nor raised the issue of Koraput district president appointment,” he said.
On his differences with Ulaka, he said, “There may be some misunderstanding. But we will continue to work for the Congress. In fact, we discussed the plan of the party for the coming election in Odisha in 2024.”
Notably, reports of cracks in the Koraput unit of the Congress have been doing the rounds for quite some time. The rift between the 4-time Jeypore MLA and MP Saptagiri Ulaka came to the fore again when the former expressed his displeasure over his wife being inducted as a PCC secretary.
Bahinipati hinted that Minakshi was removed from the post of district Congress president at the behest of Ulaka. The MLA’s supporters also made their opposition to the move public.
At least 12 zilla parishad members, block Congress presidents and the chairman of Jeypore municipality had met state Congress president Sarat Pattanayak in Bhubaneswar to express their opposition. They said it could harm the party’s prospects in the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, which are less than a year away.
