You announced to quit from the post of Cuttack district Congress committee president. What prompted you to take such a decision?

This is not a sudden decision. I had pondered over it before deciding to quit. Now, I will find more time to concentrate on my Assembly segment. But if my help is required anywhere in the district, I am ready to offer my help.

Is it your decision to step down or has the party asked you to resign following a one-man-one-post policy?

This norm has so far not been applied in the AICC as far as I know.

You are a good organiser and you could have managed both the district and the constituency…

I am managing everything. The way BJD and BJP are pushing money and muscle power into the electoral process, we need to counter it with our public relations. For this, one needs to be deeply involved in the affairs of the constituency. It is quite tough.

Niranjan Patnaik has assumed the reins of the party in the state. Questions are  being raised on his image as he hails from a mine-owning family. Do you believe the Congress will be back in power? 

Every one has some lacuna. But Niranajan Patnaik has good leadership skills and political understanding. We need to admit that Naveen Patnaik’s image is garnering votes. I am deeply involved in my constituency and have close relationships with the people of my constituency. Despite all these efforts, I have noticed that in the name of Naveen, even a Tom, Dick and Harry is getting votes. It implies the BJD has no votes and their leaders don’t carry votes with them. Whatever votes they are getting is only because of Naveen’s image. It is quite tough to counter the image of Naveen.

What can be done to strengthen the party?

Earlier, there was a leadership issue in our party but that has been resolved. We cannot grow only by speaking against Naveen Patnaik. We have to work hard and convince the people that we can also offer them good service. We can let the people feel the Congress has the leadership that can address their issues.

Do you have any leader who can match Naveen’s popularity? 

Yes, we have leaders. There is no problem with Niranjan Patnaik. It depends on how we, as political leaders, create an atmosphere to boost his image. At the same time, he has to carry on with his work taking everyone with him -which he is doing now - and we as political workers have to cooperate with him to execute the different plans of the party. At the same time, political leaders have to work to build their own image. If we do all these things, there is no doubt that Niranjan Patnaik’s image can be as good as that of Naveen. But it's a tough job…

Recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi had addressed a huge public meeting at Cuttack with the aim to make inroads in  coastal belt. Will he be successful?

Modi’s visit will have no impact at all in the coastal belt. Two years ago, because of the use of social media, they were able to win a large section of youths. But I have noticed that their popularity graph has started receding in the past one year and they are unable to arrest the slide. 

The BJD is raking up the Mahanadi issue vigorously.  Don’t you think the Congress has failed in this?

Yes, we had failed. I remember under the leadership of leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra, we had gone to Chhhattisgarh to study the impact of barrages built by them. At that time, the people should have united for the cause of the Mahanadi. We had called an all-party meeting. Neither the government supported our good move nor had our party backed us. Had the party backed our move, the issue would have been different at this moment. The party would have certainly grown in the state. At the same time, the government did not cooperate with us and stayed away from the all-party meeting. Had it supported the move, the government would have been in a better position to handle the Mahanadi dispute. But now both BJP and BJD are enacting political drama on the Mahanadi issue. 

Why has your party not launched a mission like the BJP's Mission 120?

We remained idle and the party was almost in moribund until now. At this moment, if we talk about some mission, people will laugh at us. If the BJD talks about a mission, people will accept. Even the BJP turned into a laughing stock after it talked about the 120-plus seat mission. We have to admit that at present, the Congress is not in a position to form a government in the state. But at the same time, no one can deny the fact that if Congress works hard it can reach the position of forming a government. In politics, every thing is possible.

Suppose a Karnataka-like situation emerges in the state, will your party support the BJD in forming government to keep the BJP out of power?  

As we are a national party, these decision will be will be taken at the Delhi-level though they may consult us. But we have noticed that secular forces are uniting at the national level. All the regional parties have started accepting the principle of the Congress. I know the Congress has no problem in taking the regional parties with it. If the BJD does not support the communal party, the Congress can support the BJD if such a situation emerges.