After the humiliating loss in the first two phases of the urban local body (ULB) polls, election to the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) will a prove to be an acid test for the Congress in the State, which is struggling hard to reorganise itself to pose a challenge to the BJD in the 2014 elections.
Gossip in the Congress circles about a change in the State leadership soon has come as a dampener for the party before the elections to the BMC, considered to be crucial before the general elections.
Besides, the refusal of vice-president of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) Rahul Gandhi to meet a delegation led by president of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Jayadev Jena in New Delhi on Saturday has given an impression that the State leadership no longer has the backing of the high command.
In this background, the meeting of the extended executive of the party to be held here on December 29 has assumed significance. Sources said that detractors of Jena are planning to corner him in the meeting to seek an explanation over the debacle of the party in the recent polls. AICC general secretary in-charge, Odisha, B K Hariprasad will attend the meeting.
The OPCC president, however, dismissed talks about the impending change as a rumour. Jena said he has written to all the senior leaders in the State to join hands for defeating the BJD in the next elections.
The party will formally launch the campaign for the BMC polls on December 27. Several senior leaders will take part in the launching of the campaign, he said, adding that the party’s strategy for the 2014 polls will be discussed at its extended executive body meeting.