A section of dissidents opposed to Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Niranjan Patnaik on Sunday met here again and decided to propose the name of Cuttack-Barabati MLA Mohammed Moquim as new OPCC chief.
The rebels decided to meet All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi in the connection soon. This was informed by PCC spokesperson Ashok Samal after the closed-door meeting. There is a need for a youth leader to head the party in the present scenario.
A party delegation is likely to meet the AICC president on November 10 in this regard, Samal added.
Moquim is yet to comment on the issue.
PCC president Niranjan Patnaik, in his reaction, said that whether it is a family, party or the country, there is need for unity and discipline. Otherwise everything would be destroyed.
Notably, a section of the Congress dissidents also had a meeting at the Pantha Nivas here recently and wanted Patnaik’s removal as the PCC president as the party has slumped to the third position in the 2019 Assembly elections and its candidate lost deposit in the recent by-election in Bijepur. The dissidents had projected Moquim to take over from Niranjan. But soon later, many of them made a volte face on Friday and met Patnaik and said he is the ‘Bhisma Pitamaha’ of the Congress in the State.