Bhubaneswar: The All India Congress Committee today formed a Steering Committee for Odisha even though it is yet to appoint new president for the State.
The 14-member committee will be led by Dr. Ajoy Kumar, AICC In-charge of the State Congress, and include prominent party leaders from the State.
This was informed by K.C. Venugopal, AICC general secretary, in a press statement.
The other committee members are, former Union Minister Srikant Jena, former Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee;OPCC) president Jaydev Jena, CLP leader Rama Chandra Kadam, MP Saptagiri S. Ulaka, MLA Ashok Das, ex Union Minster Bhakta Charan Das, Anant Prasad Sethi, Mohd. Moquim, Debashish Patnaik,Dr. Biswaranjan Mohanty, Balabhadra Majhi, and Sashmita Behera. Mohd. Shahnawaz Choudhary has been appointed as Secretary, AICC-Convenor.
Currently, the Odisha Congress don’t have a president, following party’s debacle in the recently concluded Loks Sabha and Assembly polls in the State. This is causing the party to lag in establishing a robust opposition in state politics.
With speculations that the appointment of the PCC president will be delayed, the Odisha Congress is to be temporarily managed by a steering committee.
Notably, on July 21, the AICC dissolved all committees, including the PCC president’s post, for an indefinite period. With the newly formed committee, it is expected to bring a fresh perspective and energize party activities in the State.