Big Responsibility For Bijay Patnaik Before 2024 Polls; Made Odisha Congress Campaign Committee Chairman

Bhubaneswar: Two months after he joined Congress, Bijay Patnaik was on Saturday given a major responsibility in the party in Odisha ahead of Jharsuguda Assembly by-election.

The bureaucrat-turned-politician has been appointed the Chairman of the campaign committee for Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC).

Congress president Malllikarjun Kharge has appointed Patnaik as the Campaign committee Chairman for OPCC with immediate effect, the party said in a press release.

The appintment of Patnaik, a former Odisha Chief Secretary who had joined Congress in February this year, is significant as it comes ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections.

This apart, the Congress president has also approved the constitution of a 27-mmber political affairs committee of OPCC.  The political affairs committee includes among others party’s Odisha in-charge and MP A Chella Kumar, OPCC president Sarat Pattanayak, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Narasingha Mishra and several for PCC chiefs.

Senior leaders of the party have been given place in this committee. Similarly, all AICC secretaries from the state and chiefs of the state women, youth and student wings and Seva Dal are special invitees in the political affairs committee.

After Bijay Patnaik joined Congress in February, it was being speculated that he may be given some important responsibility in the party. He had joined Congress at the headquarters of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in New Delhi on February 10 in the presence of party general secretary KC Venugopal. He later met party national president Mallikarjun Kharge.