Bhubaneswar, Dec 3: At a time when the Odisha Congress is almost going without a state head, the AICC is all set to appoint Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief soon.
According to the AICC sources, the Congress President is going to appoint the PCC Chief for Odisha within a couple of days.
Though scores of Congress veterans are in the row for the prestigious PCC chief in Odisha, once upon a time the bastion of the party, at least four senior Congress leaders are said to be the frontrunners to compete the race.
Reliable sources said, Congress veteran & former Minister Srijkant Jena, Former MP Bhakta Charan Das, Koraput MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka and Cuttack Barabati Ex-MLA Mohammed Moquim are now in New Delhi in connection with some party affairs. However, it’s yet to be ascertained if all of them were called by the party top national leadership or they have suo moto moved the national headquarters of the party urging the Congress President to nominate a PCC chief for Odisha.
The PCC Chief chair in Odisha has been left vacant post the general election in the state, recently concluded. The then Odisha PCC Chief Sarat Pattnayak had to leave the chair immediately after the party’s poll debacle in both the Assembly & Lok Sabha segments.
Meanwhile, election process in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and, by-elections in Bihar and Wayanad have been recently concluded. Congress top leaderships including party President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and even the Odisha Congress In-Charge Ajay Kumar are now almost free from all pre-occupied schedules, who might lay emphasis on reorganizing the Congress in Odisha.
Apart from it, the proposal of changing the Odisha In-Charge is reportedly postponed at least for the time being. Thus, Ajay Kumar who is heading the steering committee, formed to work out the Congress Organisation in Odisha, is going to continue as the Odisha Congress Prabhari(In-Charge) till further resolution of the AICC.
Speculation on the nomination of the PCC Chief in Odisha is rife, following the dominant presence of some aspirants at the AICC office in New Delhi for the last few days.
According to some political analysts, Congress Veteran and Ex-Union Minister Shrikant Jena, who was about to quit the party before the General Elections in Odisha alleging sideline by the top leadership, may be the top pick as the PCC Chief. As Jena was the first & last veteran leader to be invited by the AICC Chief just in the eleventh hour of the poll process, he might be gifted with the surprise.
Similarly, Mohammed Moquim, former Legislator of Cuttack is one of the befitting ones to be sworn in as the PCC Chief for Odisha. Moquim who has proved his strong leadership in the historical Barabati Assembly Constituency has returned to the party after fighting a great legal battle. Apart from it, he has been again received by the AICC after his suspension from the primary membership of the party was revoked. More significantly, Moquim’s stronghold and dominant signature in the Silver City has bestowed thumping victory to his daughter Sofia Firdous, at his own fortress in the Barabati constituency.
On the other hand, Bhakta Charan Das and Saptagiri Ulaka are in the good books of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, for their frequent representations from the KBK districts of Odisha. They also have strong organization among the Odisha Tribal communities, for their spectacular contributions. However, who is the most befitting leader to man the PCC, Odisha with his able leadership and boost the party in the days to come, is under the disposal of the AICC authorities that’s is likely to be finalized soon.
