The disciplinary committee of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) on Monday issued a show-cause notice to party leader Soumya Ranjan Patnaik on the charge of attempts to run a parallel organisation in the party.
The seven-member committee, after reviewing allegations against Patnaik, a former MP, on three issues decided to send the notice to him asking him to reply within seven days.
Soumya Patnaik, who turned a rebel in the party and formed a Congress Suraksha Manch after his elder brother Niranjan Patnaik was replaced as PCC president by Jayadev Jena in May this year. He recently held public meetings in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Khurda and Birmaharajpur in an obvious bid to denigrate Jena's leadership.
Disciplinary committee president Harihar Karan said, "The committee's decision followed after it reviewed the allegations which are definitely sending wrong signal to the people that there is rift in the party which is completely false."
Stating that the issue has been intimated to the party high command, Karan said, "We want to make it clear that indiscipline will never be tolerated in the party." Action in Soumya Patnaik's case could be initiated seven days after the receipt of the notice, he said, adding, "Such anti-party activities may attract punishment including expulsion from the party." On the other hand, Patnaik refuted the allegations against him, adding that he would reply to the show-cause notice.