Pradesh Congress Committee leader Arya Kumar Jnanendra on Wednesday demanded removal of Union Minister Srikant Jena for his remarks causing disturbance in the State Congress unit.
Addressing a Press conference here, Jnanendra said Union Minister Jena was criticising Nehru and Gandhi family, while he was in the Opposition. When he joined the Congress, he started criticising the Congress leaders like former Chief Minister JB Patnaik, Hemananad Biswal and Giridhar Gamang accusing the trio of doing little to tackle the backwardness of the State during the15 years of Congress rule.
“This is an anti-party campaign. let Jena not forget that he is a Minister now at the mercy of the Congress party. If he wants to criticize Congress, he should immediately resign first,” said Jnanendra.
Further, he said Jena always had low opinion about his senior colleagues while he started his political career in the Janata Dal. So, he was dropped from the party for his anti party activity. If Jena is in the habit of criticising others, he must tell what he did to bring development in Odisha during his tenure as MP and Minister.
“Jena had rather organised a mob that attacked former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at Kathjodi bridge of Cuttack in 1978. Gandhi had received injury in her nose during an attack on her while she was addressing a public meeting in Bhubaneswar as well and the perpetrators were Jena’s supporters too,” Jnanendra said.
Hence, Jena is anti-Congress since beginning and deserves no place in the party. He should be sacked from the UPA Ministry.The pilgrims are experiencing difficulties as they are to spend the winter nights at a deserted place in the waterworks area as tourist buses are not allowed to enter the city.