Jharsuguda: Rift in the Jharsuguda unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come to the fore ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the district for the inauguration of much-awaited Odisha’s second largest airport on 22 September, putting the saffron outfit in a quandary.
The ongoing tussle in the Jharsuguda BJP unit took a ugly turn after four of its suspended women leaders publicly raised their voice against the district president and Brajrajnagar MLA Radharani Panda.
A day after their suspension from the party on charges of anti-party activities and statements, the rebel leaders including Sabita Pradhan, OMP of Jharsuguda, Binodini Pradhan of Rengali Pachgaon, Miki Nayak of Brijrajnagar Lamtibahal and Sangeeta Suna of Telenpali Shastrinagar of Brijrajnagar brought serious allegations against the district president.
In a press conference, the dissident leaders had challenged their suspension terming it as arbitrary and undemocratic and threatened to run a parallel organization to oppose the district president on every forum in the BJP.
The women leaders alleged that they were suspended from the party at the behest of the Brajrajnagar MLA without any strong reason.
The suspended leaders also informed that they would not leave the party unless the party withdraws suspension.
Raising question on Panda’s leadership abilities, they said, the party had performed very poorly during the Panchyat elections under the leadership of Panda, alleged the the suspended leaders, who also tried to meet the state BJP president Basant Panda in protest of their suspension, but they could not meet him.
The dissident leaders further claimed that they have support of many leaders, who are also ready to join them to protest against the District President’s arbitrariness run.
According to sources, two senior BJP leaders Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan are expected to visit the district soon to quell the internal feuds in party.
While Odisha BJP is depending a lot on Radharani Panda to play a major role in making Modi’s upcoming visit a grand success, the ongoing tussle in the district unit has certainly dented the image of the party.