Trouble in Koraput Congress after Meenakshi ouster

JEYPORE:  Infighting is likely to flare up in Koraput Congress ahead of the upcoming general elections after the ouster of Meenakshi Bahinipati as the district party president. On Friday, Meenakshi was removed as the Koraput district Congress committee (DCC) president, a post which she had held since 2009. She was replaced by Durga Sankar Sahu, a senior Congress leader of the district. 

Sources said Meenakshi’s ouster could hamper the party’s prospects in Koraput in the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections which are less than a year away. Already a divided group, members of the party’s Koraput unit have shed their pretense after Meenakshi’s removal which could be a cause of worry.  In May last week, the infighting in Koraput unit of Congress had come to the fore with supporters of Meenakshi, also the wife of Jeypore MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati, and Koraput MP Saptagiri Ulaka staging demonstrations in front of the Congress Bhavan in Bhubaneswar. 

At the helm of Congress affairs in Koraput for a long time, Meenakshi with the help of her husband’s organisation skills had strengthened the party’s base in the district. In the last general elections, Ulaka, despite being a political greenhorn, won the Lok Sabha polls from Koraput and became the lone Congress MP from Odisha. Besides, the party’s MLA candidates in Laxmipur, Koraput, Pottangi and Kotpad Assembly segments lost the elections by a close margin.

Political observers said the change of guard in Koraput DCC will adversely affect organisational activities of Congress in the tribal region. After Meenakshi’s removal, the party’s district unit will now virtually split into two factions. The ruling BJD is likely to benefit from the intra-party feud of Congress.

However, Ulaka said the change in Koraput DCC president will have no bearing on the party’s prospects. He also denied of any factionalism in the party. “As per the party’s decision to appoint new faces in leadership posts, Koraput DCC president was changed. There is no politics in it. The media is sensationalising the factionalism. All the Congress leaders will fight unitedly in coming days,” the Koraput MP said.

Meenakshi, on the other hand, said she is yet to be communicated about her removal as the district Congress chief. “I heard the news from media and no such notification has been sent to me. However, whosoever becomes DCC president should strengthen party’s organisation in the coming days,” she added.