Bhubaneswar, Aug. 1: The Congress party today constituted a jumbo-sized Pradesh Congress Committee with nearly 100 members. They will oversee the party affairs in the state.

Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Prasad Harichandan tried his best to placate all the factions of the national party. Harichandan, who had taken over the reins of the party seven months ago, announced the list of office bearers.

He appointed five political secretaries to contain dissidence in the party.

A party release claimed all the 16 Congress MLAs have found slots in the committee. Apart from its sitting legislators, 42 former legislators too have been assigned roles in the party structure.

After releasing the list, the PCC president said: "In the new team, there are 80 per cent new faces. It is a well-balanced team comprising different segments of the society. In the new committee, 77 members are less than 40 years of age."

While constituting the team, Congress has ensured that both western and southern parts of the state are given importance in the party structure to revive the ailing party in the state.

Congress has been facing serious drubbings in the elections since 2000.

The new list includes 44 leaders from the west and 22 from south Odisha, considered to be the bastion of the BJD. The BJP had emerged as a formidable force in west Odisha during the last general elections.

"The party has given representation to 11 Scheduled Tribe and 14 Scheduled Caste leaders. The names of 12 leaders from the minority communities and 38 from Other Backward Classes also figure in the list," said Girija Shankar Das, a Congress spokesperson.

Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Bhakta Charan Das said: "This is a big team. The Congress has to carry forward a number of works in the coming days."

The delay in constituting the team had become a subject of controversy last month with 12 of its 16 MLAs going to New Delhi to meet the party high command. The meeting took place on July 22.

At the behest of the All India Congress Committee, Harichandan met the MLAs on July 30 and listened to their grievances.

The party has also constituted a co-ordination committee, which includes party veterans like Niranjan Patnaik, Jaydev Jena and Sarat Patnaik, all former PCC presidents. It also includes former Union ministers Srikant Jena, Chandrasekhar Sahoo and Bhakta Charan Das.

While party MP Ranjib Biswal is one of the vice-presidents, Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra also finds place in the co-ordination committee. Veteran leader Dambarudhar Ulaka will head the party's seven-member disciplinary committee.