Prasad out, Niranjan appointed Odisha PCC chief

New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: Putting all the speculations into rest over revamp in Congress, All India Congress Committee (AICC) today announced senior Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik as the new Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president of Odisha.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi appointed Patnaik as the Odisha PCC President replacing Prasad Harichandan with immediate effect.

“Rahul Gandhi acted taking suggestions from the leaders and workers in the party. I am grateful to him for his decision to assign me the new responsibility,” said Patnaik after AICC announced his appointment as the new PCC chief of Odisha.

“The party will work with dedication to strengthen the party at grassroots level. We will continue fight against several issues in Odisha,” he said.

“We are going to fight a winning battle not a losing battle in Odisha,” he added.

Besides, MLAs Naba Das, Chiranjiv Biswal and former MP Pradeep Majhi were appointed as the working presidents of Odisha Congress.

Gandhi also appointed former MP Bhakta Charan Das as Chairperson of Campaign Committee, Odisha in-charge Jitendra Singh as Chairperson of Co-ordination Committee, party leader Jagannath Patnaik as Convener of Coordination Committee, former PCC President Jayadev Jena as Chairperson of Core Committee, former PCC President Sarat Patnaik as Convener of Core Committee, former Odisha Chief Minister Hemananda Biswal and Congress leader Sarat Rout as the Chairperson and Convener of Disciplinary Committee respectively.

The party appreciated the performance Prasad Harichandan, who stepped down as the PCC chief.

Earlier, Prasad had hinted at revamp in the organisation and party after party’s poor performance in Bijepur bypoll in Bargarh district.