Bhubaneswar: Ahead of the upcoming general elections for Lok Sabha and State Assembly, the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) today formed a panel to discuss with its other partners in INDIA Bloc to finalise seat-sharing with them.
While OPCC President Sarat Pattanayak will be the chairman of the panel, ex-President Prasad Harichandan and Koraput MP Saptagiri Ulaka are other members of the panel.
This was decided at a meeting of the senior leaders of 17 different political parties (except BJD and BJP) including Congress held at State Guest House, in presence of AICC in-charge of Odisha, Ajoy Kumar.
The three-member Committee will discuss with other political parties regarding the seat adjustment for the upcoming elections.
It was decided in the meeting that from next January 17th, all the leaders of INDIA bloc will visit every block and district of the State through a special campaigning bus and hold meetings together in every district and block.
Earlier in the day, JMM state president Anjani Soren, Ajoy Kumar and Odisha Congress president Sarat Pattanayak held a closed door meeting here and discussed seat adjustment.
JMM’s Odisha unit in-charge Shivaji Moulik, Pawan Kumar, Odisha Congress ex-President Prasad Harichandan also attended the meeting.
According to reliable sources, the leaders from two parties were in initial discussion on seat sharing for the upcoming general elections and Odisha Assembly poll. However, the number of seats to be shared between two parties is yet to be finalised.
At that meeting, Anjani told Congress leaders that she will talk to her brother and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and the central committee of JMM about the seat sharing and informed the decision. Another round of discussion will be held on January 10, where it may be finalized, the sources said.
They also discussed the upcoming visit of Rahul Gandhi to Odisha under ‘Bharat Nyay Yatra’.
Though it did not win any seat in the last election, the JMM party has strong presence in Mayurbhanj, Sundergarh and parts of Keonjhar since the years of the struggle for the creation of Jharkhand, and these places were part of the party’s “Greater Jharkhand” demand.
