KENDRAPARA: Former Union minister Srikant Jena’s expulsion from Congress has evoked mixed reactions from party leaders and others in Kendrapara.

Several supporters of the senior Congress leader termed the expulsion unfortunate. Gagan Jena, a Congress leader and former chairman of Bari block said,  “Mining mafia are now controlling Congress in the State.

Srikant Babu had been raising his voice against the mining mafia which led to his expulsion from the party.”

Gagan said he too resigned from the party to protest the action taken against Srikant.

Ashok Behera, a Congress supporter from Kendrapara, said the party has been falling like ninepins in the State since the day Niranjan Patnaik was appointed the PCC president.

“It is high time for Rahul Gandhi to change the PCC president to save Congress”, he said.

On the other hand, senior Congress leader and former chairman of Kendrapara municipality Akbar Ali welcomed Srikant’s expulsion from the party. 

“Srikanta Jena had been indulging in anti-party works. It was an apt decision to expel him from the party,” he said.

Duryodhan Sahoo, president of the district unit of BJP said, Jena’s expulsion is a bad omen for Congress.

“Jena is a good parliamentarian. He exposed the nexus of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik with Congress chief Rahul Gandhi,” he said. Sahoo said all good people are welcome to join BJP.