• You will be heading the pradesh Congress for the second time. What will be your priority this time?

Before explaining my priority areas, let me tell you first that I am obliged to thousands of workers, leaders and our party president for assigning me the task. My first priority will be to bring youths into the party. We will create a confidence in them that they have a future here.

• You must have thought of some other priorities...

I am saddened to see that though Odisha is endowed with natural resources, it is lagging behind on all fronts. What has the Naveen Patnaik government done over the years? I will work towards bringing all-round development of the state. That would be my priority area. My focus will be on how to address the rising unemployment problem. The condition of the farmers in the state is bad. The SC and ST people are passing through hard times. They are frustrated. Dalits and women are unsafe here. All these issues will be addressed.

• Considering that your party had forfeited its security deposit in Bijepur bypoll, how do you plan to face the electorate?

I admit that it was a humiliating defeat. The condition of the Congress is not good now. But, we are sure to stage a comeback.

• How is the situation different from your earlier stint as PCC president from 2011 to 2013?

Yes, the Congress's position is weak. But, it's a national party. The party's fortune will swing again. No one can say that it is the end of road for us. We will bounce back.

• Are you confident in keeping the faction-ridden party together?

We are a united party. There is democracy in the party. Sometimes our opinion differs on a point. But whenever the party takes a decision, we all abide by that. All of us have pledged to work to revamp the Congress in the state.

• What task your party president Rahul Gandhi has given you?

I am not a first-time president. We know the culture of our party and the current situation is not good. Our party president has asked us to work towards popularising the party and ensuring the overall development of the people at large.

• How do you plan to stop exodus from the party? Will you make efforts to bring back all those who have left the party recently?

I will certainly request those leaders, who have deserted the party, to come back and work for it. Those who believe in the ideology of the Gandhi family and want that the country should move forward and all-round development takes place for Odisha should join the Congress. We will welcome all the leaders and workers.

• Who is your bigger enemy - BJD or BJP? Both are targeting your party leaders and workers?

Both are our enemies. None of them have worked for the cause of the state. They have ignored the interests of the common people. In every area, Odisha is lagging behind because of their callous attitude.

• What would be the Congress roadmap?

My name has just been announced. I have been forced to take up the assignment. I have a lot of work to do. All of us will meet and chalk out the roadmap, which will be sent for the approval for the AICC president.

• How is your relationship with the outgoing PCC chief Prasad Harichandan? Are you hopeful of getting his support?

My relations with Prasad are good. He is our senior leader. I am certain to get his co-operation.

• The BJP alleged that your appointment was backed by Naveen Patnaik. They say there is a tacit understanding between the Congress and the BJP...

These allegations are all rubbish. The BJD and the BJP had nine years of alliance. The BJD was in the Naveen Patnaik government before their honeymoon ended prior to the 2009 general elections.

• Your younger brother, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, joined the BJD a few months ago and now he is the party's Rajya Sabha member. Being the PCC president, won't you find it tough to attack the BJD?

He is a separate entity and individual. He has his own identity. He was not in the Congress. He had been there in a separate party for the past six years. What's the problem in that? I will do my work, he will do his.

• You have only one year left for the next general elections. How will you organise the party's base?

I know it's a tough task. I have been given a tough job. But if we work hard, one year is enough to bring the party back on the track.

• Seeing the party suffering a series of defeats over the years, are you hopeful that the Congress will come back to power?

Losing and winning are part of the electoral process. Even Biju babu, Vajpayee and Indira Gandhi had lost the elections. Whether the party will come back to power or not depends on the people. People are frustrated with the way the state government is running. The people are very swabimani. If they feel that the Congress should come back to power to take the state on the path of development, they will bring us back to power. But, we are confident that the Congress will fare well as people have already tested the BJD and the BJP.