Bhubaneswar: The Congress on Thursday appointed party veteran Niranjan Patnaik as the new Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president replacing Prasad Harichandan.
Patnaik will be assisted by three working presidents - Naba Kishore Das, Chiranjiv Biswal, both MLAs, and tribal leader Pradeep Majhi. The All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in charge of Odisha affairs Jitendra Singh made the announcement after a meeting of leaders from the state with Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
While reconstituting several party committees for the state, the central leadership seemed to have given emphasis on collective responsibility and tried to accommodate leaders from all factions in its various committees.
Party sources indicated that Harichandan would be rehabilitated in the AICC.
While making the announcement in New Delhi, Singh, who had recently taken over the charge from B.K. Hariprasad, told reporters that the team was a mix of experienced and young leaders and it would be able to strengthen the party in the state.
Asked about the party's future in the state, Patnaik said a lot had changed since 2013 when he quit as the state Congress president. However, he asserted that everything was not lost for the party.
"It's not an impossible scenario. The BJD has been ruling the state for the last two decades, and the BJP at the Centre for the past four-and-a-half years. The two parties should not think that the Congress is fighting a losing battle. It will fight to win the elections."
The three newly appointed working presidents also admitted that it was a challenging, but not an impossible task for the Congress to revive itself in Odisha.
The new office-bearers had held one round of meeting with Singh and three other leaders, who are in charge of Odisha affairs - Rudra Raju, Anil Kumar Chaudhary and Shaikh Mastan Vali, all AICC secretaries - on Wednesday before meeting Rahul on Thursday. Congress Legislature Party leader Narasingh Mishra also attended the meeting.
The troubles of Harichandan had mounted following the party's humiliating defeat in the bypoll at Bijepur, which used to be considered as a party bastion. Following the defeat, the exodus of leaders from the party began.
