Congress Working Committee reconstitution: Odisha leaders fume over non-inclusion

Resentment is now brewing among the Odisha Congress members as no leader from the state was included in the reconstituted Congress Working Committee (CWC).

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday constituted the new Congress Working Committee (CWC). The new CWC has a total of 39 leaders including Shashi Tharoor, Sachin Pilot, Rahul Gandhi, and Sonia Gandhi, among others.

While no Congress leader from Odisha has found a place in the list of 39 CWC members, only former Union Minister Bhakta Charan Das has been made an in-charge among a total of five.

Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) President, Sarat Pattanayak on Monday said, “Only we have got Bhakta Das and we extend congratulations to him. It would have been better if two to three leaders from Odisha would have been included. We will urge high command to include more members from Odisha in CWC.”

Expressing stern resentment, Congress MLA Sura Routray said, “The All India Congress President has done injustice to Odisha. Odisha has been underestimated and there is no representation from the state for the last 10 years in the working committee.”

According to Routray, Bhakta Das has been on the team for the last 30 years as an invited guest. There are a lot of capable leaders in Odisha. But non-inclusion of state leaders is certainly unacceptable, he added.