BHUBANESWAR: The cash-strapped
Congress
, which is facing a fresh Rs 1,823 crore notice from the income tax department, booked a seaside resort in Puri where leaders met prospective candidates over two days and asked them to deposit Rs 50,000 each to supply campaign materials for the upcoming polls.
"We are accepting cheque of Rs 50,000 each from shortlisted candidates on behalf of the party to supply branding and campaign materials of an equivalent value to them," Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Sarat Pattanayak said.
He, however, did not disclose the number of shortlisted candidates who paid the amount.
Pattanayak said a meeting was held in a Puri hotel where many shortlisted candidates interacted with senior leaders of the party.
OPCC president Sarat Pattanayak
said, "One-to-one meetings were held with the shortlisted candidates where we discussed
election strategies
and listened to their ideas on the campaign."
Asked about the
expenses
incurred on holding the two-day meeting at the seaside resort, Pattanayak stayed silent.
Some probable candidates were circumspect about spending money on hotel booking. "We learnt that the party's accounts have been frozen. The I-T department has issued notices to the party. At this stage, the party should undertake
austerity measures
and refrain from making unnecessary expenses. The meeting could have been held at the party headquarters in Bhubaneswar, which is just 60 km from Puri," said an aspiring candidate.
Congress's Jeypore MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati said the party's
financial condition
is poor in Odisha and other states. "We need donations to run the party and fight elections. There is nothing wrong in seeking Rs 50,000 from shortlisted candidates. Nobody will use the money for personal gains," Bahinipati said.
It must be mentioned that in October 2019, OPCC had appealed to the public and party colleagues seeking donations to meet the expenses for Bijepur assembly by-election.
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