BHUBANESWAR: With the Congress taking its time to recast its Odisha unit, new hats are being thrown into the ring for the post of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president.
Though sources maintain that Niranjan Patnaik and Bhakta Charan Das remain frontrunners for the post, the name of former OPCC chief Sarat Patnaik is being discussed in party circles.
Three observers from the All India Congress Committee (AICC) -- Jitendra Singh, Tamrdhwaj Sahu and Gaurav Gogoi – have already consulted senior leaders, MPs, MLAs, former MPs and MLAs and submitted their report to vice-president Rahul Gandhi. But sources said the report is still being analysed by the high command.
Indications are that sweeping changes are on the cards. Besides a new OPCC president, district units too are likely to have new presidents.
Some senior leaders want Niranjan Patnaik to be the next OPCC chief and the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) has passed a resolution in his support. But Bhakta Charan Das too has his supporters among whom are some former state presidents.
While the hiatus continues, former OPCC president Sarat Patnaik has emerged as a contender, which is likely to aggravate the tussle among different factions in the party.
With the monsoon session of the Assembly due to begin on September 7, political observers are waiting for the next step of legislators, some of whom have publicly announced their support to one or the other candidate.
The demand for the ouster of OPCC president Prasad Harichandan has intensified following the miserable performance of the Congress in the Zilla Parishad polls in February, in which the party slipped to the third position behind BJP.