Congress plans mass contact exercise to reclaim past glory in Odisha
By Sukanta Kumar Mohanty
BHUBANESWAR, DEC. 20: Almost disintegrated and decimated to the core, the Odisha state unit of the Indian National Congress is aiming to reclaim its lost glory by launching a statewide mass contact programme from January 26, 2023. The programme will continue till all the gram panchayats are covered, said Sarat Pattnayak, president of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) on Monday.
The grand old party which ruled the state for over 40 years saw its vote share plummeting to 16 per cent in 2019 assembly elections. In the last two assembly bypolls, its vote share hovered between 2 and 3 per cent.
The decision to launch the mass contact programme titled ‘Hath Ku Hath Sah Jodo’(let’s join hands) is conceptualized in the lights of the Congress’ national campaign ‘Hath-Se-hath Jodo’ programme was taken after a day-long deliberation at the OPCC headquarters here. The meeting chaired by OPCC president Sarat Pattanayak was attended by senior leaders of the party. All India Congress Committee general secretary Dr Chella Kumar was also present in the meeting.
“We’ll launch a mass contact programme from January 26 next year and bring to light the corruption of the Naveen Patnaik government. The conditions of the farmers under this regime have worsened under the BJD rule. Corruption, nepotism and lawlessness have made the lives of citizens miserable,” Mr Pattanayak said.
The Congress which had got 61.80 lakh (39.08 per cent) in 1995 when it last came to the power, saw only 37.79 lakh voters (16.12 per cent) casting their ballots for it in 2019 assembly elections. Barring Brajarajnagar assembly bypoll where it finished second, the Congress candidates in remaining seven byelections, the party was restricted to the third positions.
The OPCC’s frontal organisations – the women, youth and students wings – remain unmatched to that of the BJP and BJP’s. The party has also not been able to organise impressive public rallies and protests against the ruling BJD since 2019.
According to political analysts, the apathy of the Congress’ central leaders to focus on Odisha affairs and inefficiency of the party’s state in-charges appointed from time to time have led to the party’s slide.
“If the Congress really wants to reclaim its lost glory in Odisha, it has to be very vocal on corruption and governance issues. It also needs to galvanise the party’s frontal organizations to fight against the ruling party. Besides, it must contemplate how to attract new voters towards it,” Dr Kishore Chandra Swain, a political analyst.
