Here is a stern warning for the dissident leaders in the State Congress.
Union Minister and AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh, considered to be close to 10 Janpath, has made it clear that the party high command would no more tolerate organisational indiscipline.
“The party will crack down on the dissident elements. We have not taken actions earlier, but such steps will be taken in future,” Ramesh told reporters here on Wednesday while replying a question on dissident activities in the State Congress.
He even said, “There should be an age limit for politicians. The politicians should also retire.”
Ramesh was apparently referring to former Odisha Chief Minister and present Assam Governor JB Patnaik, whose son-in-law Soumya Ranjan Patnaik was issued a show-cause notice on the charge of running a parallel organisation while remaining in the Congress. The PCC disciplinary committee has, meanwhile, recommended to the AICC for action against Soumya Patnaik.
PCC leaders accuse the Patnaiks of creating disturbance in the party after Soumya Patnaik’s elder brother Niranjan Patnaik was removed from the post of PCC president.
The PCC, which was taking lightly the dissident activities, has, however, taken it very seriously after the party’s poor show in the recently-held urban local body (UlB) elections. PCC president Jayadev Jena stated that the party lost in certainly UlBs as some leaders put up dissident candidates against the party’s official nominees.
Ramesh, who has been focusing on the party affairs in Maoist-hit States, including Odisha, was asked by the party high command to rush to the State to study the intra-party politics, sources said.
After his Press conference, Ramesh had a close-door meeting with Jayadev Jena, leader of Opposition in Assembly Bhupinder Singh and former Chief Minister Giridhar Gamag, who all belong to the anti-Patnaiks group. In view of Ramesh’s stand, PCC sources said the AICC is likely to take action against the dissidents very soon and Soumya Patnaik could be the first victim.
PCC chief Jena is scheduled to meet Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi in this regard, sources here said.