Congress Forms Steering Committee For Odisha Headed By Ajoy Kumar

Bhubaneswar: Days after dissolving the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC), the AICC on Wednesday formed a Steering Committee for the state.

The newly-formed 14-member Steering Committee is headed by AICC in-charge for Odisha Ajoy Kumar, the party said in a press release. He has been named the Chairman of the panel.

“The Congress President has approved the proposal for the constitution of a Steering Committee for Odisha with immediate effect,” AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal informed.

The panel includes senior leader and former Union Minister Srikant Jena, CLP leader Rama Chandra Kadam, former OPCC president Jaydev Jena, Koraput MP Saptagiri Ulaka, Ashok Das, former Union Minister Bhakta Charan Das, former MP Ananta Prasad Sethi, former MLA Mohd Moquim, Debasish Patnaik, Biswaranjan Mohanty, Balabhadra Majhi and Sasmita Behera.

AICC secretary Mohd Shahnawaz Choudhary has been named the convenor of the committee.

Notably, the AICC had on July 21 dissolved the OPCC with the state president and all office bearers getting axed after the party’s ‘not so impressive performance’ during the recent elections. While the party is yet to constitute a new PCC, it is not clear as to what role will be played by the Steering Committee.