The crushing defeat of the Congress in the Jharsuguda Assembly by-election has resulted in mutual accusations among party leaders.
On Monday, senior Congress leaders blamed the party’s Cuttack-Barabati MLA Mohammed Moquim and former MLA Chiranjib Biswal for their anti-party remarks even when the campaigning for the election was in full swing.
Jharsuguda district Congress president Ashok Mishra said, “Despite enjoying all powers in the past, the way Mohammed Moquim and Chiranjib Biswal criticised the party is not acceptable at all. Their criticism came at a time when Jharsuguda was gearing up for the by-poll. From their statements, it is quite evident that they are associated with some other parties.”
A three-member State Congress committee would visit Jharsuguda to find out the reasons behind the party's poor show in the by-poll.
"The committee will submit a report as to why our vote share declined," said Pradesh Congress Committee president Sarat Patnaik.
Shunted out of power in Odisha since 2000 by the Biju Janata Dal, the Congress has witnessed a continuous decline in its vote share. It is now a poor third political power in the State. The party’s vote share, which stood at 33.78 per cent in the 2000 Assembly polls, dropped to a negligible 16.12 per cent in 2019.