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Sonia decides that Gamang must go

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Congress president Sonia Gandhi today decided that Orissa Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang must go, highly placed sources said.

"Madam Sonia has just decided that Gamang has to be removed as his continuance in office will harm our interests in the state," a veteran Congress Working Committee member told rediff.com

"The Congress Legislature Party in Orissa has been sounded out and things are moving fast," he added.

Another CWC member from South India confirmed that the party chief had decided that "Gamang's removal is the best course of action", given the situation in the state unit.

But he indicated that instead of former chief minister Janaki Ballabh Patnaik, his protégé, Revenue Minister Jagannath Patnaik, was likely to take over.

Both CWC members refused to comment on reports that the party observer and Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Madhavrao Scindia, had told the chief minister to hang on. Scindia returned to Delhi from Bhubaneswar last evening along with party colleague Vayalar Ravi. According to the reports, Scindia convinced Gamang not to resign, but to carry on his fight against the dissidents.

Congress spokesman Ajit Jogi told reporters in Delhi that the party high command was assessing the political situation in Orissa. "I will let you know if there is any further development," he added.

Sources in the Congress Party in Parliament maintained that some senior party politicians had expressed themselves against bringing back J B Patnaik. They argued that by instigating the dissidents, the former chief minister had spoilt the case for his reinstatement. By "entertaining" him, the party chief would be giving in to pressure politics, which could hurt discipline in the entire organisation. But they agreed that Jagannath Patnaik could be a suitable choice.

The other aspirant for chief ministership is senior party politician Kanu Charan Lenka. But the Congress sources were unwilling to name him as the frontrunner.

K P Singhdeo, former Union minister and member of Parliament from Dhenkanal, is said to have refused to enter the race. But the sources warned against "ruling out any significant Oriya Congress leader".

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman M Venkaiah Naidu continued his tirade against the state government, underlining that "while we are removing dead bodies, they [the state Congress unit] are engaged in trying to remove the deadwood".

Launching a frontal assault on the Orissa government, Naidu said that though enough food and medicine had been sent to the state, they could not be distributed because of the state government's inefficiency.

He accused the Congress and the chief minister of "playing dirty politics with people's miseries".

EARLIER REPORT:
Gamang awaits Sonia's directive

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