Srikant quits all panels in Cong

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Bhubaneswar: After being sidelined from the key post of the chairperson of state Congress manifesto committee for Assembly elections, senior leader and former Union Minister Srikant Jena resigned from all committees of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Sunday.
The resignation of Jena has brought to focus alleged dissensions in the state Congress unit ahead of the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
The AICC replaced Jena December 6 with Ganeswar Behera, a relatively junior leader, as the chairperson of the Congress manifesto committee for Assembly elections. Apparently upset by the party’s decision, Jena has resigned from the Congress core committee membership and the campaign committee. Jena’s removal from the Cong manifesto committee is obviously an indication of his growing differences with Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik.
The AICC has also nominated nine others including Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Narasingha Mishra and party’s erstwhile president Prasad Harichandan to the party’s state manifesto committee.
Congress Chief Whip in the state Assembly Taraprasad Bahinipati has earlier suggested that Srikant Jena was a ‘conspirator’ without naming him.
Koraput MLA Krushna Chandra Sagaria (Cong) had resigned from Odisha Assembly November 6. He had announced his resignation October 30 protesting “injustice” meted out to alleged gangrape victim of Kunduli.