BHUBANESWAR: Under Bhakta Charan Das, the newly-appointed Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president, the Congress is not banking on organisational restructuring alone. The grand old party has turned to Vastu Shastra to revive the party’s dwindling electoral fortunes in the state.
Seeking positive energy from the elements, the south gate of the Congress Bhawan - the main entrance of the party office in Bhubanswar - has been closed and entry will now be allowed through the east side gate. A puja was conducted to make the change of entry gate auspicious.
The state unit seems to have taken its reference from the past. The east side gate was used by the Congress when former chief minister JB Patnaik was OPCC president between 1992 and 1995. The party had returned to power in 1995 under the leadership of JB by defeating Janata Dal which was led by Biju Patnaik. Taking a leaf out of the past, the new leadership decided to use the east side gate as entry for the Congress Bhawan.
In fact, the western gate of the Congress Bhawan was the entrance since 2000 after the party lost election to the BJD-BJP alliance in the state till former minister Prasad Harichandan was appointed the OPCC president in December 2014. It was Harichandan who used the south gate which continued as the entry since then.
However, the organisational experiments including appointment of working presidents did not help the revival. On the other hand, the Congress strength in the Assembly slipped after every election and the party ceded the Opposition space to the BJP after 2019 election.
The OPCC president said the east side gate will be reconstructed. The OPCC office is going to see many reforms, he said and added that the open space behind the building will also be utilised. The rooms in Congress Bhawan are also being repaired and boundary wall will be made taller. The OPCC office will run full-time, he added.