Bhubaneswar: Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik on Wednesday said the party's election manifesto would be prepared taking the opinions of the lakhs of Congress workers and the people of the state.

The newly appointed PCC president said: "We cannot prepare the manifesto by sitting in Bhubaneswar. We will prepare the manifesto, and later it will be placed before the AICC for its approval. Now it is the time to strengthen the party."

Patnaik's reaction came close on the heels of the PCC's newly appointed manifesto committee chairman Srikant Jena's letter to the AICC - where he said: "The Congress, if voted to power, will select a chief minister and two deputy chief ministers, from among the OBC/SEBC (54%), SC (16%) and ST (22.5%) candidates. This will extend representation for all section of the society since these communities are collectively 92 per cent of Odisha's population.

Sources said Jena's letter aimed to dash the hopes of Patnaik to become the chief minister. He will lead the party in 2019 elections. Jena had also raised the issue illegal mining issue and wanted that the Congress should take the lead from the stranglehold of mining mafia and ensure that the mineral wealth of Odisha is used for the welfare of the people. It may be noted that the family members of Nirajan Patnaik are in mining business.

Patnaik said: "All the party working presidents are on a visit to various parts of the state. Once they come up with their report, the party will be re-organised. We will complete the appointment of district presidents by May 15. Later, steps will be taken to appoint block presidents."

"Many small teams would be set up to assist the PCC. However, all the teams will be organised with the approval of the AICC," said a senior Congress leader.