Bhubaneswar, Jan. 24 -- In a major blow to the Odisha Congress, as many as 41 workers and supporters of expelled leader Mohammed Moquim, tendered their collective resignation on Saturday in protest against the state leadership, triggering fresh turmoil within the party.

Those who resigned include a former PCC secretary, a former party spokesperson, former block Congress presidents, a Mahila Congress secretary, and several youth and student leaders. The resignations were submitted citing what they described as the 'ineffective and directionless leadership' of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC).

The mass exit comes in the wake of the expulsion of senior leader Mohammed Moquim from the Congress, a move that has left his supporter...