The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has expelled former MLA Mohammed Moquim from the party for alleged anti-party activities, terminating his primary membership on Monday.
Moquim’s daughter, Sofia Firdous, is currently the Congress MLA from the Cuttack–Barabati constituency.
The action follows a letter Moquim wrote to the party leadership questioning the ageing leadership and the Congress’s poor performance in the recent Nuapada Assembly by-election under the present Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) chief Bhakta Charan Das. In the letter, he called for structural, organisational and ideological renewal to revive the party.
In his December 10 letter to Sonia Gandhi, Moquim also objected to leaders who had repeatedly lost elections being entrusted with key organisational responsibilities. He questioned Bhakta Charan Das being appointed OPCC chief despite his past criticism of the Gandhi family during the Emergency. Moquim further claimed he had been denied an appointment with Rahul Gandhi for the past three years and urged that Priyanka Gandhi be given a more prominent leadership role.
Stressing the need to reconnect with younger party workers, Moquim wrote: “The youths are searching for a Congress that reflects their spirit. We cannot afford to let this moment slip away. If we do not give the youth a strong platform, a clear direction, and leaders they can relate to today, we risk losing not just their support in the next election, but an entire generation- perhaps forever.”
Defending the decision to expel him, Congress spokesperson Arabinda Das said: “If one would go through the five-page letter sent by Md Moquim (to the party high command), it would be clear what his intention is. He wants to destabilise the party instead of instilling discipline into it.”
Senior Congress leader Sarat Rout also raised questions over how the letter entered the public domain. “It’s not expected of him. How could it be that his letter to Sonia Gandhi somehow reached the media before reaching Delhi? People were already discussing the letter long before it even reached the party’s high command. This was all planned chaos,” Rout said.
Responding to his expulsion, Moquim stood firm. “I am happy that I have raised the issues with the leadership and it was needed to save the party. They may have expelled me, but they cannot distance me from the Congress’s vicharadhara (mindset)— I am with the ideology... I have a feeling that the Congress will rise to the occasion and certainly deliberate on the issue. I will continue to serve society.”
