KP Singhdeo does a volte-face

BHUBANESWAR: Knives are out for OPCC president KP Singhdeo. A day after the verbal duel between KP Singhdeo and working president Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra intensified, the former on Thursday made a U-turn and said he had never issued the controversial statement. The bickering out in the public, Singhdeo issued a clarification saying he had never told the panchayat election committee meeting that the defeated  candidates of Assembly constituencies should contest in Zilla Parishad elections nor did he advise anyone to do so on his behalf.However, another working president Chandrasekhar Sahu did not buy his version. “If the PCC president did not issue such a statement, somebody else on his behalf did. That person should be punished for making such a statement and only then the party will know that the PCC chief means business. Only issuing a clarification will not do,” he said.Sahu said ZP chairman or for that matter any elected post is a matter of honour and should not be referred to in a derogatory manner.However, senior leader Chiranjeeb Biswal, who was present at the panchayat election committee meeting, sided with Singhdeo and said the PCC chief only spoke about how to work for the ensuing polls.“Candidature for the panchayat polls was never discussed. So no question of making such a suggestion arises,” he said.While Mohapatra took Singhdeo head on over his statement, the party leadership clearly did not approve of the open fight. Party in-charge of Orissa Jagdish Tytler is believed to have advised that such confrontation in public must be avoided at all costs.Mohapatra said Singhdeo just can not escape responsibility by issuing a clarification. “What he said was an insult to the senior leaders who have won several times in the past. There is simmering  revolt in the party over the issue,” he said.Sahu, a former Union Minister, said such statements in the media could only damage the party image. “Besides, the PCC chief has acted unilaterally by constituting a committee for preparation of panchayat elections. Neither did he consult any senior leader nor did Singhdeo choose to consult the working presidents. Other working presidents might have been invited but so far as I am concerned, I have no information,” he said.