Expelled Odisha leader Jena questions Rahul Gandhi over Congress state unit chief

Expelled Congress leader Srikant Jena on Thursday said he respects the party's chief Rahul Gandhi, but asked why was he allowing a corrupt person to head Odisha unit of the party despite "many cases" against him.

"I have also told Rahul Gandhi as to how he is fighting against corruption across the country minus Odisha where PCC president (Niranjan Patnaik) is linked to mine mafia," Jena claimed.

There was no immediate reaction from Patnaik or the Congress party on Jena's allegations.

Jena said he would tour across the state to talk about the mining scam.

The mining scam relates to alleged corruption in extraction of iron ore and manganese in the state for which the then UPA government in 2008-09 had set up a commission to probe.

Jena, a former union minister, was addressing a meeting of 'Samajik Nyaya Abhijan', promoted by him. He had hosted Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal at the public meeting at Bhubaneswar.

On being expelled from Congress on January 19, Jena had said he would expose AICC president Rahul Gandhi to such an extent that he would "not show his face in public" again.

Speaking for the first time after his expulsion, Jena did not make any direct allegation against the Congress chief but asked how Gandhi was allowing Patnaik to head the Congress unit in Odisha.

The senior Odisha leader said Gandhi had said during his visit to the state on January 25 that "Jena ji is angry with the Congress but I am not angry with him."
Jena came down heavily on the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) chief Patnaik and dubbed him as a "habitual bribe giver."