BHUBANESWAR: Even as the Congress frantically reached out to regional parties to cobble up the required numbers, with barely hours to go before the declaration of the poll outcome, its leaders seem to have left no stone unturned to drum up their claims for party’s top post in the State sensing the perfect opportunity.
Top men of the Pradesh Congress camped in New Delhi and met the AICC bosses in a bid to prove that they can arrange the numbers for the party which has opened its arms through an ‘all options open’ strategy. Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath’s telephonic talk with BJD chief Naveen Patnaik was proof enough for the party’s desperate bid to keep the NDA at bay by hook or by crook.
Three-time chief minister J B Patnaik met AICC top brass and is understood to have discussed the issues given the current scenario. All said and done, JB enjoys huge support within the State unit of the Congress and the veteran is known to be capable of engineering a break-up in rival camps or even luring the Independents.
However, the AICC’s new move of not imposing a leader on the State unit may just keep JB out of the race. The AICC has apparently decided that the leader would be elected from among the winning candidates and the choice would be entirely theirs. This way, incumbent PCC chief K P Singh Deo too stays out.
Singh Deo, who held talks with AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, returned here on Friday and acknowledged that Congress is open to all options and that the high command is in touch with all parties which might include power-sharing on J&K pattern should Congress and BJD forge an alliance.
With two tall men of the State unit almost kept out, senior leader Niranjan Patnaik has sensed his chances. Niranjan too met Sonia and was apparently asked to stay in touch with general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad considering his resourcefullness among the present genre of Congress leaders. On his return from Delhi, JB put it in perspective: ‘There is nothing impossible in politics, is it?'