BHUBANESWAR: General secretary of All India Congress Committee (AICC) Priyanka Gandhi is likely to play a direct role in the party’s revival efforts in Odisha.
The newly-appointed president of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Bhakta Charan Das met Priyanka along with Odisha in-charge Ajay Kumar Lallu in New Delhi and invited her to visit the state to encourage the party leaders and workers in their fight against the BJP government.
Das said she has assured to visit Odisha this time. Though attempts had been made by earlier OPCC chiefs Niranjan Patnaik and Sarat Pattanayak to invite Priyanka to Odisha, it did not succeed.
The party had also planned her public meetings in the state during last year’s elections but it also could not materialise.
This is the first visit of Das to New Delhi after he took over as the OPCC president. He is also likely to discuss with the national leadership about the state office-bearers and other organisational matters.
Das told this paper that they informed Priyanka about the agitation launched by the Congress against the alarming law and order situation, particularly the increase in rape and other crimes against women in Odisha. “We briefed her about the growing crime against women in Odisha,” he said.