BHUBANESWAR: Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived here on Monday, State Congress leaders refused to close ranks. Bickering in the Congress came to the fore when some of the senior leaders alleged at the extended executive meeting convened here on Monday that the party had stopped functioning in the State. Senior Congress leader and Odisha in-charge Jagdish Tytler was reported to be not happy over the attitude of the party leaders in the State. “Nobody in the State Congress criticises Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik,” Tytler said, hinting that the State leaders are soft towards the BJD chief. However, several senior leaders, including former minister Narasingh Mishra, reacted to the charge. Mishra said this was not true about all leaders in the party. The senior Congress leader was seen leaving the meeting. Another senior leader and former minister Kanhu Charan Lenka was also critical of the functioning of the State leadership. Lenka alleged that he was not invited to Umerkote to campaign for the party candidate in the byelection. He said he went for campaigning only because some supporters invited him. OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik called upon the party workers to bury their differences and work united for defeating the BJD in the next election. The extended executive body meeting was convened to welcome the visit of the Prime Minister to Bhubaneswar to inaugurate the Indian Science Congress (ISC) and interact with the party leaders at the Congress Bhawan. A resolution was passed at the meeting welcoming him to Odisha. Criticising the State Government for the delay in delegating ‘real’ powers to the panchayati raj institutions, the executive body demanded more power to the elected local bodies in the coming days. The party will also go to the people in the panchayat polls with planks of more power to the rural bodies and proper implementation of Central schemes. Odisha is the only State where a CBI probe has been ordered into the implementation of the MGNREGS, it said and added the State Government has only utilised Rs 467 crore out of the Rs 2,307 crore under the scheme by November 25. Alleging that the BJD Government is one of the most corrupt, a separate resolution alleged that the multi-crore mining scam, irregularities in the purchase of pulses for mid-day meal scheme in schools, the discretionary quota controversy and ‘under-valuation’ of property by ministers are a few of the issues which have come out of the closet. The party reiterated a CBI probe into all these ‘scams’. Resolutions were also passed criticising the Government for the fast deteriorating law and order situation and politics over Central assistance. Besides, the State Government’s inaction to check suicide by farmers was also criticised. Referring to the alleged double standards of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the issue of a strong Lokpal, the executive body alleged that the Government is yet to table in the Assembly the special report of the Lokpal on the land acquisition for Vedanta university despite several reminders from the Governor.
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