Jatni MLA Suresh Rautray questions restructuring of Odisha Congress unit

BHUBANESWAR: The state Congress unit continues to be plagued by internal bickering with Jatni MLA Suresh Rautray becoming the latest after Jeypore legislator Tara Prasad Bahinipati to question the recent appointment of a jumbo team of office-bearers of the party in Odisha.
With an eye on the Lok Sabha and assembly polls next year, the Congress last week appointed retired bureaucrat Bijay Patnaik as chairman of its campaign committee for Odisha. Besides, the party also constituted a 26-member political affairs committee in the state.
“I am not happy with the restructuring of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC). Many ineligible leaders have been included in the list of office-bearers and given key positions. Some leaders, who deserve key posts, have been dropped,” Rautray, who has been appointed as one of the executive committee members, said.
Rautray, who had often left the Congress red-faced for his damaging statements against the party and was served with show-cause notices for indiscipline, said he has advised the OPCC president Sarat Pattanayak to revise the list of office-bearers.
“I know there are some leaders who are dissatisfied with the list. They should immediately bring it to the notice of the OPCC president. Resentment among leaders would cost us a dearly in the run up to the 2024 elections. They may revolt,” Rautray said.
Rautray’s adverse remarks on his own party came two days after Jeypore MLA expressed his reluctance to hold the position of senior vice-president of OPCC. “I am not interested in holding any post or position. I have conveyed my wish of relinquishing the post to our party state leadership. Since elections are nearing, I want to focus on my constituency. If I hold a post, the party will give me certain responsibilities and expect results. I will not be able to perform. I have no interest in posts,” Bahinipati said.