Large number of Congress office bearers, leaders of different wings and workers on Tuesday welcomed newly appointed Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajoy Kumar. The former Jamshedpur MP reached Ranchi on his maiden visit on Tuesday after getting named as PCC chief, replacing Lohardaga MLA Sukhdeo Bhagat.
After receiving the leader at the airport, the party men took him to garland Birsa Munda statue at Birsa Chowk and later to several temples on his way to the Congress office. Later he also sat briefly with top leaders of the party in the State.
“He met with Congress district presidents called on the occasion besides having a customary interaction with senior leaders involving Congress Legislative Party leader Alamgir Alam, head of the campaign committee Subodh Kant Sahay and outgoing State president Sukhdeo Bhagat,” said JPCC spokesperson Lal Kishore Nath Shahdeo.
Ajoy Kumar in the meeting is said to have discussed his future course of action and also assigned certain tasks to the party leaders and workers lower down up to district and block levels. “His instructions to the Congress office bearers were to work in reconnecting old supporters of the party in their respective areas and bring them again close to the party. Also, they have been given certain timeline and tasks to complete in order to increase support base for the party ahead of next poll challenges,” said a leader present in the meeting.
Notably, besides appointing Ajoy Kumar as party president, the Congress high command has also reconstituted several committees accommodating leaders who were feeling sidelined during Sukhdeo Bhagat tenure. Senior Congressmen including former union minister Subodh Kant Sahay, Furkan Ansari and Rameshwar Oraon along with former MLAs KN Tripathi and Banna Gupta have been given responsibilities when the new team for Jharkhand formed only last week.
“He has a tough task at hand which is to bring differing voices and factions into the party together. The situation has been complex in the State Congress as some leaders were going ahead with their personal agendas and programmes. Now when he has been brought as fresh face without a baggage, his next step is going to be crucial as far as future course of the party in the State is concerned,” said a PCC office bearer.
Ajoy Kumar in next few days would hold several such meetings with leaders and workers to set agenda and direction for the party besides having media interactions to present his priorities and his way of functioning going to be.