New Delhi: Within a week of his letter to Sonia Gandhi flagging “wrong decisions and misguided leadership choices” weakening the party, the Congress on Monday expelled its former Odisha MLA Mohammed Moquim. The MLA’s letter also suggested a key central role for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
“This is for the information of all concerned that AICC (All India Congress Committee) has approved the proposal for the expulsion of Sri Md Moquim from the primary membership of the party, due to anti-party activities,” the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee said in a statement.
Following his expulsion, Moquim told reporters that he did not regret writing the letter to Sonia Gandhi. “They have expelled me from the party, but cannot distance me from the Congress ideology which I follow in letter and spirit,” he said.
In his letter to Sonia Gandhi, Moquim, who had snatched the Barabati-Cuttack assembly constituency in 2019 from the ruling BJD, sought a central role for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the party’s affairs, pointing out his inability to meet Rahul Gandhi for almost three years despite being an MLA.
“Madam, with utmost humility, I firmly believe the nation, and especially its youth, are waiting for Smt Priyanka Gandhi-ji to take a central, visible, and active leadership role. It is equally important that leaders like Shri Sachin Pilot, Shri D.K. Shivakumar, Shri A. Revanth Reddy, Dr Shashi Tharoor among others, form the core leadership of the party going forward, as they have the credibility, energy, and connection needed to inspire and mobilise young Indians,” he wrote.
In 2024, Moquim’s daughter Sofia Firdous won the Barabati-Cuttack seat, becoming one of the 14 winning candidates from the Congress, and the first Muslim woman to get elected to the Odisha assembly. Moquim could not contest as he was convicted in a loan fraud case.
Founder and managing director of the Metro Group, a prominent real estate player in Odisha, Moquim was scathing in his criticism of OPCC president Bhakta Charan Das, appointed to the position in February 2025, saying he could not even “secure trust in his own constituency”.
Incidentally, Firdous has emerged as a prominent political face in Odisha due to her active interventions during assembly sessions and her ability to articulate the party’s position on various issues.
Moquim, in his five-page letter, said the Congress requires deep structural, organisational and ideological renewal, without which “we risk losing our relevance and fading into the annals of history, which would be a tragedy not just for the party, but for the idea of India itself”.
He underlined the party’s “deep and growing disconnect” with Indian youth.
“With due respect, under the current leadership style, especially with Shri Mallikarjun Kharge-ji being 83 years old, the party is unable to resonate with India’s youth,” wrote Moquim, forwarding copies of the letter to Kharge and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi as well.
The Congress’s plight, Moquim wrote, has become alarming and unbearable, and yet, rather than correcting its mistakes, the party was repeating them.
“In Odisha, we have faced 6 consecutive defeats, and at the national level, we have recently endured 3 major setbacks back-to-back. Our presence is shrinking geographically, organisationally, and even emotionally. The recent outcomes in Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra and Kashmir, where our defeats were by staggering margins, are not just electoral setbacks; they reflect a deeper organisational disconnect. A series of wrong decisions, misguided leadership choices, and the continued concentration of responsibility in the wrong hands have weakened the party from within,” he added.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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