Bhubaneswar, Nov. 3: Various district Congress committee presidents from the state today met AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi to reportedly show their confidence in the leadership of state unit president Prasad Harichandan.

Party sources said that the district committee presidents, each of whom met Rahul individually, are believed to have told him that there was no need for a change in leadership in the state, a demand which was made by all the party MLAs, led by Congress Legislature Party leader Narasingha Mishra on October 17 during their meeting with Rahul.

Cuttack city Congress president Mohammed Moquim, who was among the 23 of the 33 district committee presidents, today told The Telegraph: "During the one-on-one meeting, Rahulji has given us a clear indication that the Congress will go to the panchayat polls under the leadership of Harichandan. He has asked all of us to work in unity and to do well in the rural polls scheduled to be held early next year."

Moquim said Rahul also told the district Congress chiefs that "no indiscipline would be tolerated in the party. He has asked us to inform the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee and the AICC whenever they come across any act of indiscipline".

The 23 district unit presidents today met in New Delhi on the backdrop of the ongoing tussle between Mishra and Harichandan. Both had already met Rahul Gandhi and had reportedly lodged their complaints against each other. Rahul today sought their opinions on the state of affairs in the state party unit and also on its preparedness to face the rural polls. He assured the leaders that they need not worry about the tussle between the two leaders and should instead concentrate on taking measures to strengthen the party at the grassroots level.<>Rahul, who was supposed to visit Bhubaneswar in September, had cancelled his visit on the ground that he would be busy with the elections in Uttar Pradesh. During his interaction with district Congress chiefs, he told them that he would definitely visit the state before the rural polls to give a fillip to the party's campaign.

AICC general secretary in charge of Odisha B.K. Hariprasad, who was also present at the meeting today, emphatically stated that the meeting was aimed at strengthening the party to face the panchayat polls. "Rahulji discussed about the panchayat elections with the leaders," he said.