Malkangiri: The Congress party in Malkangiri district has reportedly been a divided house even as speculations are rife that former Nabarangpur MP Pradip Majhi is likely to leave the party along with his supporters.
Meanwhile, executive president of the Malkangiri district Congress Ram Prasad Patnaik resigned from the primary membership of the party.
His resignation has triggered discontent among party cadre in the district. Another development has also left many frontline leaders fuming in Padia block. In a press statement, district unit president Gobinda Chandra Patra has scrapped the Padia block Congress Committee. Scores of party functionaries and workers in the block have expressed their unhappiness over such a development.
Senior Congress leader of Padia block Md Farooq stated the district unit president has no power to interfere in formation of the block committee or any programme of the party works. “The district unit president has no power to scrap the block unit,” he added.
Ahead of the panchayat polls, the Congress unit in the district has become faction-ridden. Resignation and factionalism will adversely affect the electoral performance of the party, political observers noted, saying if Pradip Majhi leaves the Congress and join the BJD in coming days, it will deal a big blow to the party in both Malkangiri and Nabarangpur.
Pradip Majhi is said to have a huge following in the district. If he leaves the party, a huge chunk of Congress supporters may desert the party, it is said.
PNN