BHUBANESWAR: Faced with the challenge of reviving and rebuilding the party ahead of simultaneous polls to Assembly and Lok Sabha in early 2019, AICC in-charge of Odisha Pradesh Congress Jitendra Singh on Wednesday announced a massive public contact programme by the party beginning Thursday.
“The party on Wednesday decided to launch ‘Jan Sampark Abhiyan’ to reach out to people across the State from Thursday,” Singh said after a meeting of the top functionaries of Congress here.
This move of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) came a day after the ruling BJD launched a month-long ‘Jan Sampark Padyatra’ from the Capital to sensitise people about various welfare schemes introduced by the State Government.
Singh, who held a series of meeting with party functionaries, social media team and women activists, said the districts have been distributed among vice-presidents, general secretaries and secretaries. They have been assigned the job to ensure that party workers reach out maximum number of people during the public contact programme.Initially, the party plans to cover all 314 blocks in the State before reaching out to people at panchayat level.
The former Union Minister, who had an elaborate discussion with party’s district coordinators for social media, said Congress will use social media extensively to connect with voters. Giving a presentation on the Mission Shakti App launched by AICC president Rahul Gandhi, Singh said the objective is to enrol more number of voters through this digital platform.
Party workers who will enrol 2000 members will be invitee member to the PCC while those aspiring for party tickets have to enrol a minimum 10,000 members. “Application for party candidature will be considered on the basis of the membership drive and organisational skill,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Pradesh Election Committee (PEC) of the party has selected candidates for 44 Assembly seats out of the total 147 in the State. The PEC list will be sent to the AICC’s screening committee before its final approval by the Congress president.
OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik will launch Odisha Jagaran Yatra from Balasore district. Patnaik, during his three-day stay in the district, will hold small meetings at the panchayat level ostensibly to take feedback from people.