OPCC chief smells sabotage by senior party leaders

Party infighting within the state Congress unit has once again come to the fore with Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee Chief Jayadev Jena alleging sabotage by some senior leaders to spoil the chances of party candidates in the just completed Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state.

"Some senior leaders have put their personal interest ahead of the party's interest and worked against the party candidates out of jealousy," Jena told media persons.

He, however, didn't name the 'back-stabbers' and said, "the matter is under investigation and strong action will be taken against these leaders".

Meanwhile, condemning the allegations of OPCC chief, Congress leader Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra said, "We are listening to such complaints for last 30 years. It is unfortunate that people are putting the blame for poor performance on others. One should not contest election, if he does not have guts to fight against all odds, internal or external."
 
Similarly, Congress veteran Niranjan Patnaik, from whom Jena took over the reins of OPCC, said, if PCC president has any information against any leaders for anti-party activities, actions should be taken against them.

The Congress chief also urged all the political parties to be vigilant as it apprehended that the EVMs stored in strong rooms may be tampered by the ruling BJD.

"There was large scale rigging at many places through BJD and bureaucrat nexus," Jena alleged. Even if evidence was submitted to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) about ruling party's involvement in rigging, no action has been taken yet, he added.