Cuttack, Sep 02: Prominent Congress leader Asirbad Behera has resigned from primary membership of the party and launched a new party, Orissa Congress. In a statement here today, Behera said that he quit the party in protest against the activities of Sarat Patnaik, president of the Orissa PCC and Suresh Mohapatra, president of the Cuttack city Congress committee. Behera, a former chairman of the Cuttack Municipal Council, said that Patnaik had issued show cause notice to him for alleged anti-party activities without convening the disciplinary committee. He described the action as "whimsical and arbitrary".

Bureau Report