Addressing media here today, Jena directly hit out at the AICC President Rahul Gandhi as well as the OPCC chief Niranjan Patnaik for destroying the party culture.
Without naming the OPCC chief, he vowed to drive out him and the Patnaiks from exploiting Odisha.
“Without fighting the elections, I will work to drive out the mining mafias and Patnaiks from the State. Why their half percent population will rule the State for 40 years? Now my top priority will be to save Odisha from Patnaik rule,” Jena told reporters after being ousted from the Congress by the AICC last night.
The ex-Congressman made it clear that he will not join any political party, rather will expose the real faces of the tainted leaders.
He threatened to expose the secret nexus between the Patnaiks (indicating Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik) and Rahul Gandhi during Gandhi’s visit to Odisha on January 25.
“I will campaign everywhere. I will go to people and reveal the secret deal between Rahul Gandhi and Patnaiks. During Rahul’s visit to Odisha on Jan 25, I will expose him and the whole country will witness it,” he said.
He lashed out at Gandhi for destroying the party’s ideologies and principles.
“Supporting the mining mafias was never the culture of the Congress in its history. But for the first time, the personality like Rahul Gandhi, who has taken the charge as the party chief, has slipped into such level,” he said.
“I will blow off the lid on Jan 25 and the entire country will come to know who is Rahul Gandhi and why he is protecting these mining mafias,” Jena warned.
Reacting to Jena, BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb said that the BJD need not make the statement on the ouster of former union minister Srikant Jena and former MLA Krushna Chandra Sagaria.
“Expulsion of Krushna Chandra Sagaria and former Union Minister Srikant Jena is Congress party’s internal matter. We have nothing to comment on this. But, the allegations of Jena leveled at a press conference today is unacceptable because at one point he is dragging his party chief as well as the state government on the other hand the UPA-II government had brought certain amendments while he was a minister. If he had raised that issue then why didn’t he tender his resignation on moral grounds? Jena is alleging a nexus between BJD and Congress, BJP is alleging a nexus between BJD and Congress. Jena didn’t utter a single word about BJP in his presser. Is he signaling that he is going to join BJP?” Rajya Sabha MP and BJD leader Pratap Keshari Deb questioned.
“If we take part in discussing baseless and false allegations, then we are giving much importance to the misleading accusation and the person in question. I would urge Srikant Jena that he should do politics in his own way. He was my colleague when I was in Congress. I was also expelled from Congress. It would have been better if the matter was discussed then. Whatever family relation I have with people, I try to do politics with my ideologies and will continue to do so. As far as the mining loot issue is concerned, the inquiry commission was constituted and the Supreme Court has passed several judgments in this regard in the past. If he is trying to take political mileage out of the issue then he should try for it,” Rajya Sabha MP Soumya Ranjan Patnaik expressed.
Prasanta Patnaik