New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: The meeting of the 23 District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents along with some PCC general secretaries of Odisha with party vice-president Rahul Gandhi scheduled this afternoon at his residence in New Delhi was postponed to tomorrow.
AICC leader and co-in-charge of Odisha Congress Subhankar Sarkar said Rahul could not attend the meeting in time as he was detained by the police at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. Due to this, the meeting was postponed to tomorrow at 10 AM.
However, the DCC presidents, who had left for Delhi to discuss the organisational affairs with Rahul, have remained tight-lipped about the subject to be discussed in the meeting.
The meeting of Gandhi-scion with the chiefs of most of the organisational districts of State Congress is a pointer to the matter that Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Prasad Harichandan facing a coup in his party.
Summon to some senior leaders like PCC vice-president Ranjib Biswal to the National Capital has indicated that the party high command has attempted to cement the cracks in the Odisha unit.
Talking to media persons in Bhubaneswar, former PCC president Niranjan Patnaik said Congress is a democratic party. “The party will decide the clean image of the PCC president. If the party is not cleaned, it will be dirty,” he said while hinting at the PCC chief Prasad Harichandan.
Chief whip of the Opposition Tara Prasad Bahinipati said he does not know whether the PCC president or Rahul Gandhi has invited the DCC presidents while ignoring the Koraput District Congress president. “It would have been better had the Koraput DCC chief was invited to the meeting,” he pointed out.
PCC spokesperson Hamid Hussein said some DCC presidents have gone to meet Rahul. But as the drawing room of Rahul Gandhi can accommodate a maximum of 20-25 persons, PCC had decided to take 23 DCC presidents. “After all, seeking advice from Rahul for the ensuing panchayat polls is necessary,” he noted.
The internal dissents in Odisha Congress is nothing new, but this time it has become more serious ever since the PCC president openly declined his support to all-party meet over Mahanadi river dispute convened by his own Narasingh Mishra.
Mishra had led a delegation to Delhi recently and met Congress vice president. The leaders had declined to divulge anything about the discussion regarding party affairs, but said the matter of discussion was confined to Mahanadi issue and panchayat polls.
Talks were round the corner that they had camped in Delhi to put forth their demand before party top brass for a change of guard in State Congress.
The growing dissidence became more public when Rahul summoned up Harichandan for a meeting on October 28 and subsequently called up the DCC presidents.
The development gives a clear sign that the AICC wants to be in direct touch with the grassroots organizations ahead of the panchayat polls.