Cuttack/Bhubaneswar, May 6: AICC leader in-charge of Odisha Jagdish Tytler today ruled out the possibility of leadership change in the state in the near future.

“Several MPs, MLAs and party workers are meeting AICC president Sonia Gandhi. But it does not mean that there would be leadership change in Odisha,” he said today.

“There is a lot of enthusiasm in the Youth Congress and things will improve soon in Odisha as there are plans to hold a series of meetings at the district and block levels,” Tytler said.

Notwithstanding his assertions, a section of party leaders led by former Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee working president Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra today met Union health minister Gulam Nabi Azad, who was earlier All India Congress Committee general secretary in charge of Odisha, in the city. The meeting assumes significance as Azad also enjoys clout in the AICC.

Mohapatra had invited Azad and other leaders for dinner at his house. While the Congress leaders felt that it should not be treated separately, sources in the Congress said Mohapatra tried to project himself as an alternative to the present leadership in the state.

Mohapatra, considered close to Azad, had lobbied for the post last time when the Congress president favoured Niranjan Patnaik as the chief in the state.

A rally was organised from the Congress Bhavan to the Utkal University campus yesterday where Azad attended the annual function of the university’s student union.

Mohapatra, who is believed to be not pulling on well with Tytler, was not present at the party zonal conference held in Cuttack.