Bhubaneswar, Dec. 9:A group of senior Congress leaders today met in the city and demanded for a change in the state leadership.

'We discussed about the causes of our party's debacle in the recent elections. The state leadership has failed to manage the polls. That's why all the party leaders, who assembled today, demanded a change of the leadership,' said former Union minister Kanhu Charan Lenka.

The leaders had gathered at the residence of former chief minister Hemananda Biswal at an informal get-together. Lenka said the leaders would go to New Delhi to apprise the party high command of the state of affairs in the state.

Prominent among those who met included former Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik.

Pradesh Congress Committee president Jaydev Jena, who stayed awayfrom today's meeting, declined to comment.

The meeting assumes significance in view of the fact that Assam governor J.B. Patnaik, a former chief minister of the state and a veteran former Congress leader, is returning to the state on December 11. His five-year tenure as the governor will end tomorrow, and there is intense political speculation on whether he would return to active politics.

Party spokesperson Sarat Rout, considered to be close to Jena, said the get-together was not an official meeting. Several leaders, who have been suspended or expelled for anti-party activities during the last elections, were seen at the meet. 'The party high command has not decided to change the state leadership so far. So, the demand for the change of leadership is not justified,' he said.

This is the first informal get-together of Congress leaders after the party's debacle in 2014 general elections. The party failed to win a single Lok Sabha seat as against six it had won in 2009, while the party's strength in the Assembly came down from 27 to 16.

Following the drubbing, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge B.K. Hariprasad had held consultations with the elected and defeated party MLAs and MP candidates to know the reason of the debacle. Infighting was identified as the prime factor for the defeat.

AICC president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi had met a few senior leaders to elicit their views. However, the leadership has so far not given any indication about revamping of the organisation in the state.

Though Lenka was candid in his views, former chief minister Hemananda Biswal, who had convened the meeting, was cautious in his remarks. He said: 'Getting united is essential for the party's survival and coming back to power in the next elections.'

Niranjan Patnaik shot back, saying:'If rivals such as Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar can come together and forget their political rivalries, why can't we? The Congressmen in Odisha should get united to carry forward the fight against poverty and corruption.'