OPCC chief Niranjan Patnaik holds meets sans Srikant Jena

BHUBANESWAR: After former union minister and senior Congress leader Srikant Jena launched a campaign against president of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Niranjan Patnaik over the issue of ‘mining mafia’, the OPCC chief on Sunday hit back by organising several functions in Balasore district without associating the former.

Patnaik attended Maha Dalit Samman Samavesh in Balasore besides several other functions which were attended by district Congress leaders. The move, sources said, is likely to affect the standing of Jena who is positioning himself as a champion of dalits. Besides, Jena had also contested the last two Lok Sabha polls from Balasore and is also a ticket aspirant from the constituency for the 2019 elections.

The State Congress president’s move comes after Jena and his supporters staged a dharna in front of Raj Bhavan here on Saturday demanding loan waiver and hike in MSP on paddy even though the OPCC had already taken a stand over these issues. Besides, though the dharna was organised over farmers’ issues, Jena used this opportunity to target Patnaik by raising the issue of uncollected fines from the mining mafia. 

Jena was recently removed as the chairman of OPCC manifesto committee. The former union minister has since resigned from all party posts.

Meanwhile, former Koraput legislator Krushna Chandra Sagaria, a close associate of Jena, in a letter to Patnaik sought to know why Congress is not raising the issue of ‘mining mafia’ who have looted the exchequer. Alleging that Patnaik had rejected the demand for making a dalit chief minister if Congress came to power in Odisha a place in the manifesto, Sagaria said it was attempt to prevent 94 per cent of people in Odisha get their right.

Alleging that Congress had a tacit understanding with BJD (OPCC chief’s brother Soumya Ranjan Patnaik is BJD Rajya Sabha MP), Sagaria demanded that Patnaik should clarify on the issue. Sagaria has turned a dissident since he was removed as the chairman of SC cell of the State Congress and appointed as general secretary of the party. He has also not accepted the post.