ANGUL: Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik’s scheduled visit to Angul on Friday will give the beleaguered district unit of Congress a much-needed shot in the arm. Niranjan, along with other senior leaders of the party, will hold a mega rally at Sabhahghar on the day where more than 20,000 Congress workers are expected to turn up.
The OPCC chief will be accompanied by the party’s Odisha in-charge Jitendra Singh, district in-charge Naba Das and other senior leaders of the State. The district unit of the party does not have a chief. The former district president Pratap Pradhan had joined the BJP after the party’s panchayat poll debacle. Pradhan had attributed the shabby performance of the party in the panchayat polls to internal squabble. To make matters worse, a large number of party workers have switched their allegiance to BJD and BJP in the last few months.
Sources said there are four to five contenders for the post of district president. Among them are former district presidents Sangram Mishra, Biplab Jena and Ambika Bhatt. Niranjan has made it clear that he will appoint someone who is close to the masses as the district president. “The PCC chief’s meeting and rally will go a long way in fostering a spirit of unity among the rank and file of the Congress party in the district”, said Sangram Mishra.