Bhubaneswar, 14 March (H.S.) : Sofia Firdous, Congress MLA from Cuttack, has expressed dissatisfaction over the party’s decision to move some of its Odisha legislators to a resort near Bengaluru ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha. She also raised concerns about the Congress party’s decision to support a BJD candidate in the polls.

Responding to reports that several Congress MLAs were shifted to a resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru to prevent cross-voting, Firdous said she had no information about such a move and had not been contacted by the party leadership.

“I don’t know about it because nobody contacted me regarding going to Bengaluru or anything related to that. We were not even consulted or asked for consent when it was decided which candidate to support,” she said.

Firdous also questioned the party’s decision to extend support to BJD Rajya Sabha candidate Dr Datteswar Hota. According to her, the Congress backed the candidate only after former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced his support.

“The Congress party extended its support to the candidate only after Naveen Patnaik announced his support. How can this be called a common candidate? He is clearly a BJD candidate,” she remarked.

The Congress MLA further alleged that the Biju Janata Dal has historically supported the Bharatiya Janata Party and described the regional party as the BJP’s “B-team.” She also criticised the BJD for supporting the Waqf Bill, claiming the party should stop portraying itself as secular.

Firdous also expressed disappointment over what she described as a lack of consultation within the Congress party in Odisha. She alleged that even during the elections she was not invited to party activities in her own constituency.

“People from my own constituency were joining the party, yet I remained completely unaware. The party is not moving in a direction where everyone is taken along, and this has left many feeling disappointed,” she said.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda