Bhubaneswar, Dec. 14: Rift within the Congress party resurfaced again with former Union minister Bhakta Charan Das coming down heavily on the state unit president Prasad Harichandan for ignoring him in party affairs.

Das alleged that Harichandan had not taken him into confidence while appointing former MLA from Junagarh, Gobardhan Das, as the president of the Kalahandi district party unit. Das, who hails from Kalahandi, disputed the claims made by Harichandan that all the senior leaders including MPs and MLAs were consulted before deciding district unit presidents.

"The way the present leadership is behaving is bound to weaken the party," said Das, who was in the forefront of the Niyamgiri agitation that had led the UPA government to scrap the mines that were allocated to the Vedanta group. He was also instrumental in making Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi visit Niyamgiri. He had also been one of the All India Congress Committee spokespersons and is known for his proximity with senior leaders in Delhi.

Das said: " It is unfortunate that the present leadership is trying to ignore me in Kalahandi. They will certainly pay a price for it. How can they ignore my contribution to the party." He threatened to launch an indefinite agitation to streamline party affairs.

Denying the allegations, Harichandan said: " The appointment was made by the All India Congress Committee (AICC). All the leaders including former MPs and ministers were consulted before the appointment. All the decisions were communicated to the high command and the AICC took the final call."

Harichandan said Das should have raised the matter with the leadership instead of going to the media.