BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) has decided to focus on the Western and Southern Districts of the State for the revival of the party organisation before the 2024 general elections.
The Jana Sampark Yatra launched by the OPCC president Sarat Pattanayak from Iram in Balasore district last month has now moved over to Southern districts. OPCC spokesperson Manoranjan Das said that the Yatra recently held in Nabarangpur district evoked a good responses from people. The aim of the party is to reclaim the organisational base which was depleted after former MP Pradip Majhi quit the party to join the BJD.
Das said that several local Congress leaders who had crossed over to the BJD with Majhi are now in touch with the party to come back. He said they will be admitted to the party soon at a function to be held here.
The Yatra will move to Kalahandi and Nuapada districts on Monday where the party targets to build on the existing base. Das, however, said that the district was once a stronghold of the party before losing space to the BJD and BJP. The yatra will move to those areas in the district where it had a strong base, he added.
Congress has a legislator from the Nuapada district. The yatra will then move to the Kandhamal district from Nuapada. Das said that the party has possibilities in several constituencies of the district where it had MLAs in the past. After taking over as the new president of the OPCC, Pattanayak announced that the party will launch Jana Sampark Yatra in all 30 districts.