Old wine in old bottle: Congress picks Sarat Pattanayak as OPCC president

BHUBANESWAR:  After a wait of nearly two years, the Congress on Monday appointed former MP Sarat Pattanayak as the new president of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC), bringing him back from a sort of retirement in a bid to rejuvenate the party organisation in the State.

Pattanayak’s appointment has raised questions whether electoral improvement of the party was in the mind of the high command or it is just another stop-gap arrangement to nullify rising discontent in the State unit. 

This is Pattanayak’s second term as OPCC president. He served as the State chief from 2001 to 2004. However, it was a lacklustre affair as his tenure marked the beginning of the decline of the party in Odisha.
To bring back a leader, who is not very active now, and entrust him with the task of rebuilding the party has come as a huge surprise for the partymen, who were hoping for handing over the leadership to such a person who would inspire and rejuvenate the almost moribund organisation in the State.

That Pattanayak’s appointment is not likely to bring any electoral benefit for the party is clear from the fact that he does not have a pan-Odisha base and his access to the organisational structure in coastal Odisha is limited.

Besides, giving charge of the State organisation to a 65-year-old leader also goes against the demand of the party’s rank and file. They wanted overhauling of the organisation with young leaders, and certainly not with persons who were active in politics two decades back.

Congress picks Sarat Pattanayak as OPCC president

Party insiders maintained that it will be difficult for Pattanayak to persuade all the leaders to join hands and work for the Congress revival in the State as all the legislators would not agree with his leadership. There was a demand from the legislators to appoint someone from them as the OPCC president.

His name had cropped up during a meeting of State leaders with Rahul Gandhi at New Delhi recently, but it was reported to have been vehemently opposed by leader of the Congress Legislature Party Narasingha Mishra.

It will be a major challenge for the new OPCC president to unite all factions in the party and work for its reorganisation. Mohammed Moquim, the Cuttack-Barabati MLA, one of the contenders for the OPCC president post, did not react to the development. Congress whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati also adopted a policy of wait and watch.

Political observers, however, maintained that Pattanayak will face a difficult time in strengthening the organisation in coastal and northern districts where he does not have any influence. Organising funds will be a huge challenge as the Central party has stopped financing the State unit, they said.