Uncertainty over OPCC change of guard

BHUBANESWAR:Uncertainty prevails over the much-awaited change of guard in the State Congress even after the humiliating defeat of the party in the Bijepur by-poll where its candidate lost the deposit.
Sources in the party said any decision in this regard will be taken only after the three-day session of All India Congress Committee (AICC) beginning March 16 at New Delhi. Though there were reports that president of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee Prasad Harichandan had resigned taking moral responsibility for the party’s debacle in the by-poll, there has been no official confirmation from AICC. The OPCC president is also not available for comment.

However, Harichandan and other members of AICC from Odisha will attend the three-day session at New Delhi. Sources maintained that there is likely to be hints in the speech of AICC party president Rahul Gandhi about organisational matters and change of guard in Pradesh Congress Committees (PCCs) where the party has not performed in recent Assembly elections. There is an earlier circular from the AICC that there will be no change of guards in the States and unless a decision is taken in this regard for any State.

Sources said several party leaders are waiting for a decision of the high command after the AICC meeting about a change of guard in the State. If a decision in this regard is deferred further, many leaders are likely to quit Congress and join other parties for their political survival. A senior leader said as general elections are at the most a year away, further delay in this regard will have damaging results on Congress in Odisha.