Former Barabati-Cuttack MLA Mohammed Moquim on Wednesday wrote to Congress MP Sonia Gandhi, urging her to take immediate steps to revive the Congress “structurally, emotionally, ideologically and organisationally.”

“We need transparency, merit-based appointments, youth empowerment, and a leadership that remains emotionally connected to its workers,” Moquim said in his letter, also appealing to Sonia Gandhi to bring Priyanka Gandhi to the forefront with greater responsibility.

Moquim, whose daughter Sofia Firdous is the current Congress MLA from Barabati-Cuttack, said his only aim was “the revival of the party that my family has served for generations.”

Raising ten points in his letter, Moquim levelled serious allegations against Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das and his son Sagar Das, accusing them of supporting the separate Koshal state movement. “In 2025, Bhakta Charan Das was appointed OPCC president. He, too, has lost 3 consecutive elections and has been associated with a political ideology historically opposed to ours,” he said.

He reminded Sonia that Das’s leadership had caused “deep unrest” among party workers. “Under his leadership, in the Nuapada by-election, his own parliamentary segment, the Congress lost by an unprecedented margin of nearly 83,000 votes,” he added.

Moquim also highlighted the growing disconnect between the leadership and grassroots workers. “This alienation makes electoral conversions nearly impossible,” he wrote.

Warning the party against projecting an “ageing leadership,” Moquim said the Congress must connect with India’s youth. “With due respect, under the current leadership style, especially with Shri Mallikarjun Kharge ji being 83 years old, the party is unable to resonate with India’s youth,” he said.

“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,” Moquim cautioned.