Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Congress received as massive jolt after 41 party leaders and workers supporting expelled leader and former MLA Mohammed Moquim tendered mass resignation from the party on Saturday, voicing strong dissent against the state leadership.
The resignations include a former Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) secretary, a former party spokesperson, several former block Congress presidents, a Mahila Congress secretary, and several youth and student leaders.
The mass resignation has exposed growing unrest within the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC), with the resigning leaders alleging “ineffective and directionless leadership” under OPCC president Bhakta Charan Das.
They accused the state unit of failing to address public issues and neglecting grassroots workers’ voices, claiming the party has become election-centric with little regard for organisational strengthening or internal democracy.
The resignations come amid the party’s poor performance in the Nuapada by-election, with dissidents alleging the leadership failed to introspect or review the electoral defeat.
The move is a reflection of Moquim’s expulsion, which workers termed arbitrary. Notably, Moquim had held a series of public meeting recently and announced plans to launch a new political party by March-end.
