A month after holding discussions with them, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has again called four senior leaders of the State Congress to meet him in New Delhi on Saturday, triggering speculations about the party’s leadership in the State earlier to the coming general elections.
Rahul Gandhi has asked Union Minister Srikant Jena, Kalahandi MP Bhakta Das, lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra and Jayadev Jena to meet him at 11 am on Saturday, obviously for talks on the party’s organisational matters in the State.
On the other hand, a team of State Congress leaders headed by PCC president Niranjan Patnaik met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram in Delhi on Friday and pleaded with them for a Special Category State status to Odisha.
The four leaders, including Jena, had met Rahul Gandhi earlier on March 25 and held discussions on organisational affairs while young Nabarangpur MP Pradip Majhi and Rajya Sabha member Rama Chandra Khuntia had been called to meet Gandhi shortle later.
The four leaders had reportedly been asked to prepare a blueprint for restructuring the State party organisation while Majhi was offered to work at the central level.
Majhi had expressed his interest to work in the State and especially for his own constituency.