Bhubaneswar: The simmering internal conflict within the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee has taken a dramatic turn with senior leader Mohammed Moquim reportedly levelling a serious charge against OPCC President Bhakta Charan Das and his son, Sagar Das.
Adding to his initial letter to Sonia Gandhi that opposed Shri Das’s leadership following the Nuapada by-poll defeat, Moquim has allegedly accused both the father and son of supporting the separate Koshal state movement. This allegation positions the dissent not just as a leadership issue but as one deeply concerning the territorial and political integrity of Odisha.
Moquim is reported to have claimed that the Das family’s purported support for the division of Odisha is completely against the interests of the state and the Congress party’s official stance of a United Odisha. This accusation throws the spotlight on the highly sensitive issue of the Koshal demand, which seeks a separate state comprising the Western Odisha region.
The OPCC President, who hails from the Kalahandi region in Western Odisha, has not yet publicly addressed this specific and highly inflammatory allegation.
His son, Sagar Charan Das, is an MLA from the Bhawanipatna constituency, also in Western Odisha, which is a key area for the Koshal movement.
One search result indicates that a “Sagar Charan Das,” President of the Koshal Raej Mukti Morcha (KMM), has previously articulated grievances regarding the neglect of the region.
The Congress high command now faces not only the task of resolving an acute internal factional war but also addressing an allegation that touches upon a core political principle of state unity.
The latest development transforms the leadership tussle into a major political crisis for the Odisha Congress.