After the Congress High Command selcted senior leader Niranjan Patnaik as the President of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee many Congress men and polticalk bservers are hopeful that Mr Patnaik will be able to give new life to the party in Odisha.
Niranjan Patnaik will be the Indian National Congress new state president. A decision announced by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) addressing a long-pending demand of its faction-ridden unit in Odisha for change in state leadership. However, with about a year to polls – assembly and general elections have been held simultaneously in Odisha – the move may not do too much for the party’s electoral fortunes. The AICC on Thursday also announced three new working presidents — Naba Das, Chiranjiv Biswal and Pradeep Majhi — each in charge of a region of the state.
Patnaik replaces the 54-year-old Prasad Harichandan who had the backing of party president Rahul Gandhi and that of his father-in-law Suresh Kumar Routray but had failed to win the confidence of many of his peers, including leader of Opposition Narsingha Mishra. Over the last two years senior Congress leaders had made several trips to New Delhi to express their inability to work with Harichandan and but had failed to convince their president to replace him. Some of them had suggested 76-year-old .
“Now is the crucial time to start work from the grassroots level. And this ( Thursday’s appointments) is a very good combination of experience and young people who can ensure the party’s united and works hard,” Congress’ state-in-charge Jitendra Singh said.
Singh was appointed a fortnight ago. That announcement was followed with one announcing three new AICC secretaries assigned to the state, Rudra Raju, Shaikh Mastan Vali and Anil Kumar .
Prasanta Patnaik