It's not merely odd, it's a crass (if low stakes) power play by someone obviously intent on sabotage (might be personal, might be related to a perceived fiefdom etc.).
That part is not obvious to me as an outsider. And framing something that shouldn’t have been done as a power play, when it could as easily have been simple ineptitude or some other issue, seems like it weakens the argument and escalates the situation.
Plenty of people who haven’t really thought about how conferences should work end up on committees running conferences, kind of like how plenty of developers end up as high level reviewers or managers regardless of their qualifications.
It's theoretically possibile that it's ineptitude, but only barely; if "I don't think that this feature is ready yet, so I will anonimously lobby behind the scenes to avoid it being talked about in public" is the strongest exculpatory explanation that someone can find for their actions...
Also, being inept and clinging to one's position isn't a good look either.
Plenty of people who haven’t really thought about how conferences should work end up on committees running conferences, kind of like how plenty of developers end up as high level reviewers or managers regardless of their qualifications.