The Rourkela District Congress unit here is beset with troubles as much as the State Congress. Shockingly, the local unit has no head since March last.
Former DCC chief BM Pattanaik joined the BJD just before the April general elections expressing his resentment over distribution of party ticket for the much hyped Rourkela
Assembly seat.
Not only Pattanaik but also many frontline leaders of the party and other frontal organisations like Mahila Congress, Youth Congress and Students’ Congress left the party and joined either the BJD or BJP.
That is why the party candidates in Rourkela and Raghunathpali Assembly segments not only lost but also forfeited their security deposits and the Sundargarh MP candidate was tucked to the third position as he got very less votes in these two seats.
It may be noted here that while Niranjan Pattanaik was the PCC chief, Nihar Ray was the Sundargarh DCC chief. While Ray was leading the party here he was regularly holding party activities in the district and Congress party used to be in the limelight. But when Jayadev Jena became the PCC chief, Ray was replaced by Pattanaik. Perhaps from that day the rot set in.
Interestingly since the PCC chief is not able to appoint a substitute of Pattanaik, the party is now in a chaotic state with many leaders and workers getting more and more frustrated with regard to their career.
As the BJD and the BJP are gearing up for the forthcoming Rourkela Municipal Corporation election, many Congress leaders are in touch with the two parties for their rehabilitation, revealed a Congress leader on condition of anonymity.
If the vote percentage of the Congress party in the past elections is taken into consideration then it could be well assessed how the party is shrinking here.
After getting a thumping victory in 1980 Assembly election, it lost narrowly in 1985 election and again lost in a wide margin in 1990 poll. But it could manage to win the seat in 1995 by a thin margin.
However, since 2000, it has never succeeded. Even in 2014 elections it lost the security here. Even though the party managed to form the council in the Rourkela civic body once between 2003 and 2008, it did not have a clear mandate.
If the nomination of a DCC chief is delayed further then the party may lose its identity in the coming days, feel the political experts here.