BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to connect the party with the people, the State Congress will organise padayatras at seven places in the State. Announcing this after the two-day brainstorming session of senior Congress leaders here, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Prasad Harichandan said the party will take the issues of corruption in the BJD Government and communalism of the BJP to the people.
The first phase of the padayatra will be held in March and April in Khurda, Cuttack, Balasore, Balangir, Kalahandi, Koraput and Ganjam districts. Harichandan also announced that three more brainstorming meetings of the party will be held at the zonal level and the places will be announced soon.
Stating that all the senior leaders of the party have agreed to join hands to revive the Congress and make it the number one political organisation in Odisha, Harichandan said the party has decided to identify new leaders at the grassroots level.
The OPCC president said the new team of the party will be announced soon. Congress will launch agitations at the block-level over local issues soon, he said and added that the chit fund and other scams will be major issues.
Describing the Narendra Modi Government at the Centre as anti-poor and anti-farmer, Harichandan said when the price of petrol has gone down by 55 per cent in the international market, the Centre has slashed it by only 15.75 per cent. But, the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) has been reduced by 45 per cent, he said. While ATF is available at `52.4 per litre, the price of petrol and diesel is `64 and `55 per litre respectively, Harichandan said and asked the BJP State leadership to explain this discrepancy to the people.
Alleging that there is a match-fixing between BJP and BJD in Odisha, general secretary of All-India Congress Committee (AICC) and in-charge of Odisha B K Hariprasad said ‘achhe din’ promised by Modi is not visible anywhere. AICC secretary Subhonkar Sarkar was also present.