Congress Expels Odisha Leader Who Raised Questions Over Kharge’s Age In Letter To Sonia Gandhi | Politics News

Last Updated:December 15, 2025, 12:09 IST

“I have no regret about this…While in opposition, a party has to rebuild itself, and considering Kharge ji’s age, that is not possible,” Odisha’s Moquim told News18

Mohammed Moquim had raised questions over the party’s leadership and said Rahul Gandhi was unavailable. (ANI/PTI File)

Odisha leader and former MLA Mohammed Moquim, who recently triggered a row by questioning the party’s current leadership and raising concerns over Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s age in a letter to Sonia Gandhi, has been expelled from the party.

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) issued a letter expelling Moquim from the party’s primary membership on the grounds of anti-party activities.

Speaking to News18, Moquim said, “The Congress did not speak to me, and in the morning, I came to know from news channels that I had been expelled. I have no regret about this, because in my thinking, the Congress still remains…”

“India has 65 per cent youth. I respect Mallikarjun Kharge ji, but the thinking that is required today, especially when the Congress party is playing the role of the opposition, is different. While in opposition, a party has to rebuild itself, and considering Kharge ji’s age, that is not possible. We are losing elections one after another. The baton should be in the hands of the new generation,” he said.

“The Congress has been gradually becoming weaker. We have lost elections in Odisha six times as well. That is why, when Rahul ji keeps saying that party workers are our strength, we felt that the Congress was not giving us time and Rahul ji was not giving us time. So we decided to write a letter to Sonia ji,” he said.

What Moquim said in the letter

In his letter sent on Monday, Moquim accused the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) of sinking the party’s prospects under the stewardship of current chief Bhakta Charan Das and former president Sarat Pattanayak. He pointed to the Congress’ dismal performance in the 2024 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections and the 2025 Nuapada bypoll, calling them evidence of a deep organisational collapse.

“There is an acute leadership crisis,” Moquim wrote, adding that both Bhakta and Sarat have “lost several elections” and failed to energise the cadre. “Grassroots workers are confused, demoralised and directionless,” he said.

Moquim went a step further, stating publicly that “age is not on Kharge’s side” and arguing that the Congress must push younger leaders to the forefront if it hopes to reconnect with India’s youth. “I have written to Sonia Gandhi because the party is going through a difficult phase and needs her guidance and new leadership,” he said. “We must bring forward young leaders, and I am sure Sonia ji and the CWC will take this up.”

Moquim cited the exit of several young leaders — from Jyotiraditya Scindia to Himanta Biswa Sarma, as proof that the party is failing to hold its next generation.

Describing himself as a “disciplined member,” Moquim hit out at OPCC chief Bhakta Charan Das for allegedly calling him a “Vibhishan”, a term used for a betrayer. “Without any basis, Bhakta told the media that I am a Vibhishan within the party,” Moquim said, insisting that internal criticism was being unfairly dismissed as disloyalty.

He also highlighted what he described as a widening gulf between grassroots workers and national leaders, recalling: “When I was an MLA, I could not meet Rahul Gandhi for three years.”

Moquim reiterated that only sweeping reforms could restore credibility to the Congress. “There is a need for an open-heart surgery, deep structural, organisational and ideological renewal,” he wrote in the letter.

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