Bhubaneswar: Unity seems to be the mantra of the new Congress leadership as the party attempts to retrieve lost ground in Odisha where it has been out of power since 2000.

Hopes of a revival are running high with senior leaders, including Haladhar Karjee and Kartikeswar Patra, who had left the Congress following differences with the leadership, rejoining it on Wednesday. "We are expecting more such leaders to return to the party fold. The focus is definitely on unity and stemming the exodus of leaders from the party," said former MLA Ganeswar Behera.

Behera exuded confidence in the abilities of new Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Niranjan Patnaik, who replaced Prasad Harichandan, who had incurred the wrath of a majority of the party MLAs. "The new president is capable of uniting the party and putting it back on the track. That is the reason he has been assigned the job at such a critical juncture. The only problem is he has limited time in hand," said Behera, adding that the new leadership was committed to judging leaders and workers purely on the basis of merit.

The new leadership is also asking senior leaders saddled with multiple responsibilities to follow the one man one post principle to be able to focus on their work. Cuttack district Congress president and Salipur MLA Prakash Behera was the first to respond to the leadership's call by giving up the district president post to concentrate exclusively on his work as a people's representative. Following in his footsteps, Jharsuguda MLA Naba Das on Thursday quit as the party's president for the district.

"Such initiatives show that senior leaders are willing to work selflessly for the growth of the party in Odisha. If this trend continues, no one can stop the Congress from making a comeback in the state," said a party leader.