BHUBANESWAR: Changes in the State unit of the Congress will have to wait at least for a month after the meeting of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik with general secretary of All India Congress Committee (AICC) Priyanka Gandhi.
Patnaik’s meeting with Priyanka during the ‘Chintan Shivir’ of the paty at Udaipur has come as a dampener for his detractors in the party as it gave a hint that he will continue in the post for the time being. The OPCC president discussed the organisational situation in the State Congress and invited her to Odisha. Sources said that Priyanka agreed to visit Odisha and give time for organisational matters in the party.
The fact that the Congress leaders from the State including the MLAs had failed in their mission of changing Patnaik from the top post was evident from the meeting they had with former president Rahul Gandhi at New Delhi. Rahul chastised them for the indiscipline and warned of strong action in future.
Patnaik who returned from New Delhi looked confident and said that the programme for Priyanka’s visit to the State is being worked out. He said that Congress will perform well in Brajrajnagar bypoll and win it.
The Brajrajnagar bypoll and the organisational elections of the party starting next month have also come as a breather for Patnaik as he will lead the party’s campaign in the bypoll. Besides, as the organisational elections of the party will be held next month, there is minimum chance of a change in the OPCC during the period.