Jaydev, Niranjan at daggers drawn again

BY NALINI SAHU

Bhubaneswar, April 24: The internal bickering in the Odisha Congress unit continues, albeit with the same intensity as it was before the elections, cutting a sorry figure among the party workers.

The present Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Jaydev Jena and his predecessor Niranjan Patnaik on Thursday re-engaged in a verbal duel over the management of the just concluding Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state.

Speaking to the media persons here, the former PCC president Mr Patnaik said the Congress missed a “golden chance” to come to the power in Odisha as the incumbent party state chief Jaydev Jena could not carry along the entire organisation with him during the elections. He alleged that the wisdom of the senior leaders and the services of dedicated party workers were not fully utilised by the PCC president to score over the ruling BJD.

The PCC chief Mr Jena, not to be cowed down, rebutted Mr Patnaik’s charge and said the Congress fought whole -heartedly in the elections.

He even claimed that the party would get “thumping majority” in the 147-member state Assembly and form the next government.

“The Congress has done well in the elections and you will see that we will form the next government in Odisha. Those who were sounding pessimistic will get to see that people have preferred the Congress to the ruling BJD,” asserted Mr Jena.

Known for their long years of rivalry, the two Congress leaders hailing from Keonjhar district have been at daggers drawn ever since Mr Jena replaced Mr Patnaik as the PCC chief just a few months before the elections.

Both the leaders campaigned separately for the party’s Lok Sabha and Assembly candidates.

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