All India Congress Committee (AICC) today expelled media baron, AICC member and former MP, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik on charges of running parallel organisation within the party. He has been barred from the primary membership of the party for a period of six years.
On August 12, Patnaik, who is the head of Eastern Media Ltd, a leading media house of the state, was issued a show cause notice by the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) for organising Sankalp Abhiyan meetings across the state without involving the PCC president. The expulsion decision was taken after receiving the response of Patnaik to the notice, said AICC.
"B K Hariprasad, General Secretary (In-charge of Odisha affairs) has communicated the expulsion of Soumya Ranjan Patnaik from the primary membership of the Congress for a period of six years with immediate effect," a AICC press release said.
Patnaik, who also happens to be the son-in-law of former chief minister JB Patnaik and younger brother of former minister and PCC chief Niranjan Patnaik, said, he cannot accept the expulsion order, but has to obey the party decision.
"I fail to accept the AICC action. If expulsion is the reward for serving Congress for the last 25 years, I congratulate the party high command for the decision," Patnaik said in his reaction to the expulsion order. "However, if expelling me helps the party or any particular section in the party, I wish them the best," he added.
Patnaik had earlier refuted allegations brought against him saying his endeavour to organise Sankalp Abhiyan was aimed at strengthening the party at the grass root level.
Ever since the appointment of Jayadev Jena as the PCC president in May this year, Patnaik, at various platforms, had been criticising the manner in which the party was being run in the state.
Even he had challenged the authority of PCC to send him the show cause notice, saying he cannot be served notice by the state unit, as he was a AICC member.
PCC chief Jena today side-stepped the questions raised regarding expulsion of Patnaik. "I have no comments to offer it is a AICC decision," said Jena.
Former PCC head Niranjan Patnaik termed the expulsion decision as incorrect. "I do not think the decision to expel Soumya is a correct one. He was not involved in anti-party activities, rather was busy in strengthening the party from grass root level," said Patnaik.
