JEYPORE: Overwhelmed by its impressive performance in the panchayat elections in Koraput, the district unit of Congress has started stepping up measures to pull off a similar feat in the upcoming civic polls. Going a step ahead, the party on Wednesday announced 56 senior cadres to form committees for the polling process in four urban local bodies (ULB) of the district - Koraput, Jeypore, Sunabeda and Kotpad.
Kotpad NAC will have 12 committee members, Sunabeda 16, Jeypore 15 and Koraput 13. This apart, there will be 15 observers. As per reports, the selection of committee members was done after reviewing the current political trend across Koraput and with an aim to further cash in on the anti-incumbency factor which worked against the BJD in the panchayat elections.
Sources say, though Congress is yet to commence the selection of candidates, committee members have been asked to kickstart the process at the earliest. “The committees will hopefully help strengthen the party’s hold with the selection of eligible candidates for the urban polls and other associated works,” said Krushna Chandra Nepak, a senior Congress leader of Koraput.
Meanwhile, the proactive decision of Congress has put the BJD and BJP on their toes. Earlier in the day, the ruling party organised a meeting in Jeypore in presence of district BJD president Iswar Panigrahi and senior leaders.
It is believed that the BJD will come up with a party agenda and aspirants in urban areas in the next two days with former Minister Rabi Nanda and senior party leaders Bishnu Patra, SN Rath, Rama Raul, Bala Ray and Anup Patra looking into the matter. The BJP however is yet to pull up its socks after its debacle in the rural polls.