BHUBANESWAR: Congress veteran Niranjan Patnaik has been appointed as the president of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) as a part of the restructuring of the state unit which was on the cards since the last one year after the party's humiliating defeat in the panchayat polls in February, 2017.
Patnaik will replace Prasad Harichandan during whose tenure Congress slid to third place behind the BJP in the panchayat polls and lost deposit in the by-poll to the Bijepur assembly seat, a constituency from which its candidate had won three consecutive elections.
In the restructuring, the AICC has tried to bring some balance and not make it an one man show by appointing three working presidents. Two of the party's legislators in Odisha, Naba Kishore Das and Chiranjib Biswal and former MP Pradip Majhi have been appointed as the new working presidents. Sources said that Odisha will be divided into three zones. Each of the working presidents will be given organisational responsibility of one of the zones.
AICC in-charge Odisha Jitendra Singh has been appointed as the chairperson of the coordination committee. Though the responsibility of the committee is yet to be spelt out clearly, it will mainly deal with relation between the organisational and legislative wings of the party. Relations between the two wings of the party has deteriorated considerably with the legislative wing constantly demanding the ouster of the state president after the poll debacles of the party. Former minister Jagannath has been appointed as the convenor of the coordination committee.
One of the many aspirants for the post of OPCC president, former union minister Bhakta Charan Das has been appointed as the chairman of the campaign committee. A core committee with former OPCC president Jaydev Jena as its chairperson has also been constituted. Another former OPCC president Sarat Patnaik has been appointed as the convenor of the core committee.
Besides, former union minister Srikant Jena has been appointed as the chairperson of the campaign while former minister Sarat Rout will be its convenor. Former chief minister Hemananda Biswal will be the chairperson of the disciplinary committee.
Though the revamping of the state unit has been welcomed in the Congress circles, there are doubts on how far the team will be effective in arresting the downward trend and preparing the party for the next elections.
Talking to mediapersons after his appointment as the OPCC president, Patnaik agreed that the Congress position has
weakened in Odisha. "I know I have huge challenges and responsibilities ahead. The party turned very weak over the
years in Odisha. But we will work united to strengthen the party ahead of 2019 elections,” Niranjan said and added
"BJD and Congress should not assume that we (Congress) are fighting a losing battle. Congress will bounce back in the state in next elections." he said.
This will be Patnaik's second stint as the OPCC president. He was replaced as OPCC president Jaydev Jena on May 13, 2013.