Bhubaneswar, May 19: AICC leader in charge of Odisha affairs Jagdish Tytler today warned Congress dissidents that indiscipline would not be tolerated.
The leader warned the party leaders against crossing the “Laxman Rekha” and urged them to maintain discipline. “No one is above the party. All efforts should be made to strengthen the party,” he said.
Supporting Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Niranjan Patnaik, Tytler said: “No individual should be held responsible for the defeat of the Congress in the recently held panchayat elections. All should be blamed for the debacle.”
Tytler said that district unit presidents who were not giving much time to the party would be changed.
The party leaders were unanimous in the belief that efforts would be made to bring all factions into a single fold.
Patnaik said: “Disciplinary action would be taken against those who violate party discipline.”
The ongoing infighting among Congress leaders had snowballed into a major controversy last week after three party MLAs — Dusmant Naik, Surendra Singh Bhoi and Shayam Charan Hansda — had met Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad during his visit to Odisha and had alleged that the organisation had become weak.
Later, warning letters were issued by Tytler for “breach of party discipline” and the MLAs were reportedly cautioned not to repeat such an “act of indiscipline” in the future.
However, one of the MLAs, Jogesh Singh, came out in support of the MLAs who were rebuked. Singh criticised Tytler for issuing such warning letters.
Even Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra, a known critic of Patnaik, defended the actions of the MLAs stating that there was nothing wrong in meeting the senior leaders of the party.
In an attempt to engineer a truce with Mohapatra, Patnaik had yesterday said that the “young Congress leader Mohapatra” was like a younger brother to him. “There is nothing wrong in a leader dreaming of bigger things,” he said, indicating that he had not found fault with Mohapatra aspiring for the party president’s post.
