In a huge jolt to the Congress ahead of the elections, three former MLAs along with their supporters resigned from the primary membership of the party on Wednesday over alleged partiality in ticket distribution.
Former Narla MLA Kumarmani Sabar, ex-Junagarh MLA Gobardhan Dash, ex-Dharmagarh MLA Jugaram Behera and other leaders holding various posts in the party submitted a joint resignation letter to Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) head Niranjan Patnaik.
In the resignation letter, the leaders said, “We had been working to strengthen the Indian National Congress for two decades.
However, we were ignored and sidelined by the party during selections of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.”
“While two members of a family were given party tickets, the senior leaders, who have been serving the party for decades, were denied the tickets. Despite repeated protests by the party workers, we were ignored by the PCC,” they alleged in the letter indicating all’s not well in the party.
They mentioned the alleged partiality in ticket disbursement for the Narla constituency and candidates’ selection for Kalahandi district as a whole.
“There was demand for a long-term leadership in the Narla constituency. However, the selection of a candidate from Bhawanipatna for this Assembly seat has created strong resentment among the party workers. By sidelining the winnable candidates, the party will face loss in Kalahandi,” they said.