Offering To Quit As Odisha PCC Chief Since 2019: Niranjan Patnaik

With Congress president Sonia Gandhi asking presidents of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) in five states to resign from their posts following the recent debacle in assembly elections across the country, party’s Odisha unit chief Niranjan Patnaik on Wednesday said has been offering to quit the party top post since 2019.     

Patnaik hailed the move of the party president seeking resignation for poor performance in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa, and Manipur as exemplary step. 

“Congress president Sonia Gandhi has asked PCC presidents of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa, and Manipur to tender resignations in order to facilitate the reorganisation of the top posts. It is an exemplary step. However, it doesn’t imply that only PCC chiefs were at fault for the losses,” Patnaik said.

“I have been writing to the high command to allow me to step down since the declaration of the results of the general elections in 2019. However, the high command has not thought about it so far,” Patnaik added. 

The PCC chief however, clarified that he will continue to serve the party irrespective of whether he holds the top post or not.  

Speaking about the upcoming elections to urban local bodies in the State, Patnaik said everything, starting from candidates to votes, is being sold. He added that he has instructed the party’s candidates to contest the polls honestly. 

Patnaik further said that the huge amount of money being spent during elections now-a-days was not in practice in the past. He termed it ‘a threat to democracy’. 

He further said that the party does not have much funds to contest the polls and will accept whatever result emerges.