Cong bites the dust

BHUBANESWAR:AS a total decimation stares in the face of grand old party, Congress, after the humiliating defeat of the party candidate in the Bijepur by-poll, senior party leaders have blamed All India Congress Committee (AICC) and Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) for the dismal show.

One of the major factors which contributed to the sorry affairs was delay in announcement of the candidate at a time when the party was fighting the by-poll to retain the seat. Congress was in the candidate selection process when the BJD was halfway through its campaign and BJP had decided on its nominee. There was no coordination among the senior leaders and a majority of them stayed away from even after announcement of the candidate. Campaign was mostly conducted by leaders from coastal Odisha while veterans from Western Odisha were ignored, though Leader of the Opposition Narasingh Mishra campaigned for the candidate. Besides, constitution of two committees for selection of the candidate delayed the entire process.

Sources said the high command did not accept the recommendation of Hemananda Biswal committee on candidate selection as a result of which most the members stayed away from campaigning. Besides, none of the party MLAs campaigned for the candidate in Bijepur.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik said AICC delayed its decision in candidate selection. Besides, the decision taken by the AICC was not correct as it failed to take note of the political scenario in the State, he said and added the State leaders also failed to discharge duty properly and could not win the trust of the people of Bijepur.Former OPCC president Jaydev Jena also admitted that Congress was no match for BJD and BJP in resources. “Congress could not spend in the entire panchayat what BJD pumped into a booth,” he said.