Will Congress In Odisha Be Able To Regain Its Lost Glory?
Key Points
Ever since it was voted out of power in 2000 in Odisha by the mighty combination of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the 139-year-old Congress party has literally been gasping for survival in Odisha.
Bhubaneswar, Aug. 17: Will Congress in Odisha ever revive and regain its lost glory? Is it on the right track of resurgence? How long can it run without a captain?
Ever since it was voted out of power in 2000 in Odisha by the mighty combination of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the 139-year-old party has literally been gasping for survival in the state. Though it put up a better show in the recently held assembly and Lok Sabha polls in the state, drop in its vote share dealt a body blow to the party’s strategists.
Soon after the poll debacles, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Sarat Pattanayak had tendered his resignation. After a lot of dilly-dallying, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) finally accepted it and dissolved the PCC on July 21, 2024.
On August 14, 2024, All India Congress Committee (AICC) announced the formation of a steering committee for Odisha to look after PCC’s organizational affairs.
The steering committee, as per a press release signed by AICC general secretary KC Venugopal, has 14 members with AICC in-charge for Odisha Ajoy Kumar as its chairman. The other committee members are former Union minister Srikant Jena, Congress Legislature Party leader Rama Chandra Kadam, former OPCC president Jaidev Jena, Koraput MP Saptagiri Ulaka, senior leader Ashok Das, former Union Minister Bhakta Charan Das, former MP Anant Prasad Sethi, former MLA Mohd. Moquim, former MLA Debasis Patnaik, senior leader Biswaranjan Mohanty, former Minister Balabhadra Maji and senior leaders Sashmita Behra and Mohd. Shahnawaz Choudhury.
None of the former PCC chiefs like Niranjan Patnaik, Jayadeb Jena, Prasad Harichandan and Sarat Pattanayak have got a place in the steering committee. Bijay Patnaik, Odisha’s former chief secretary who had joined the Congress in 2023 and went on to become the PCC campaign committee chairperson also did not find a place in it. He resigned from primary membership of the party on August 16 saying he was neglected in the party and felt that he was no longer useful.
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✨It needs no mention that Bijay Pattanayak had joined the Congress party when it was passing through a lean phase and facing unremitting desertions. His joining marked many old Congressmen sitting silent for long years becoming active again and some BJD leaders joining the grand old party.
Bijay’s articulated attack on the Naveen Patnaik government had given the party the much needed momentum. The erstwhile PCC president Sarat Patnaik leveraged the ex-bureaucrat’s experience and expertise for further build-up of the party.
Rahul Gandhi has not appeared quite serious and sensible about the Odisha affairs, at least in the past 10 years, and left the party’s state leaders to fend for themselves. His casual attitude and approach, especially in Odisha context, has led to the party’s steady decline in the state.
From 38 per cent votes in 2000 assembly polls to 13 per cent in 2024, is surely an undesired accomplishment the grand old party could have checked with right earnest and effort.
Time will tell if AICC president Mallikajurna Kharge and Rahul Gandhi will ever be able to salvage the Odisha Pradesh Congress from the sloppy and slippery path it has been traversing for all these years, largely because of their incessant inattention.
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