Bhubaneswar: Congress in Odisha is gearing up for the upcoming visit of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi visit to the state on July 11 as part of the party’s national campaign.
The senior Congress leader is slated to address a public rally on ‘Save the Constitution’ to be held at Baramunda Ground in Bhubaneswar during his visit.
The ‘Sambidhan Banchao Samavesh’ will also be attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party general secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal.
Ahead of the visit of the senior leaders, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) has made elaborate arrangements for making the rally a success. OPCC president Bhakta Charan Das has appointed three coordinators smooth organisation of the rally and other programmes to be attended by Rahul Gandhi and other leaders.
While Manas Choudhury has been appointed as the coordinator of programme organising committee, Nabajyoti has been named as the coordinator of publicity committee and Subhendu Mohanty is the coordinator of organisational committee meeting, OPCC said in a press release on Tuesday.
During their visit, Rahul and national leaders are scheduled to address party workers and supporters. The rally will focus on increasing violence against women, with Congress seeking to strengthen its position through widespread public engagement.
Since Das became the OPCC chief, Congress in the state has been striving to strengthen the organisation and is making efforts to position itself as the main opposition. The attempt at a political revival saw the party stalling Assembly proceedings and aggressively taking to the streets over women safety in the past.
However, in a setback to the OPCC chief ahead of the visit of national leaders, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) has cancelled the appointment of interim presidents in all the organisational districts of the state.
Das had appointed interim presidents in the organisational districts in view of the visit of the national leaders, and anticipating that they will be approved by the central leadership. However, the central leadership has instead asked Das to cancel the appointments as district chiefs will be announced by the AICC. Das has been asked to appoint the interim presidents as convenors till a new list of district presidents is announced.
The development has come as a big blow for Das who was presumed to have been given a free hand by the central leaders in the affairs of the party in Odisha.
