After retaining Jayadev Jena as the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president, the AICC on Thursday named Union Minister Srikant Jena as the chairman of a 24-member State Congress Campaign Committee.
It seems AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi has dislike for the erstwhile powerful Patnaiks of the party headed by JB Patnaik. He has of late taking decisions keeping an eye on the ensuing Assembly and lok Sabha elections in the State. Party sources said four top leaders of the State Congress are close to Rahul Gandhi, they being Jayadev Jena, Srikant Jena, Bhakta Charan Das and Chiranjib Biswal.
With Srikant Jena being projected as the face of the party in the State, the party high command has given a signal that the Patnaiks’ regime is over. Both Jayadev Jena and Srikant Jena are strong opponents of Patnaik family. Srikant Jena is even on the record blaming JB Patnaik, along with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, for the sorry state of affairs in the State today.
Former PCC president Niranjan Patnaik has described incumbent PCC chief Jayadev Jena and Union Minister Srikant Jena as “assets” of the State party. Asked for his reactions on the announcement of the newly-constituted PCC Congress Campaign Committee by the AICC, Patnaik said the committee is “welcome”. He, in the same breath, recalled that these leaders had managed the party’s campaign during the recent municipal elections.
His statement had a sarcastic reference to the defeat of the Congress in these elections. Asked if he felt bad on not being included in the campaign committee, Patnaik retorted that after having worked as the PCC president, becoming a member of the campaign committee is not important for him. Patnaik and former Chief Minister and Sundargarh MP Hemananda Biswal have been excluded from the 24-member campaign committee.