Bhubaneswar: Newly appointed Odisha Congress president Bhakta Charan Das Thursday said that the state is going to witness a “big political revolution”, whose foundation was laid now.
The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) led by Das took out a 60-km Sankalp Padayatra from Bhubaneswar to Puri’s Lord Jagannath Temple.
The padayatra, which began February 18, culminated Thursday at Puri.
Holding party flags and banners, a large number of Congress activists along with AICC in-charge for Odisha, Ajay Kumar Lallu, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Rama Chandra Kadam, senior MLAs Tara Prasad Bahinipati & Dasarathi Gomango and other senior leaders participated in the padayatra.
Speaking to media persons, Das said, “I am feeling blessed and happy being here in the land of Lord Jagannath. Many Congress supporters have joined us and many others will join in the coming days as Odisha was treated as a strong belt of Congress in the past.”
“A big revolution is going to happen in the state and the political environment will change,” he asserted.
Das said his first priority is to bring the state party unit in order and then “bring a revolution in this soil”.
Lallu, who is on his first visit to Odisha after being appointed as in-charge of OPCC, said, “We have come to the land of Lord Jagannath for the welfare of the state and its people and to bring a change in the state.”
After being appointed as the new president, Bhakta Das has started taking steps to strengthen the party’s base in the state.
He has appealed to all leaders who had left the party for some reason to return.
Following his appeal, veteran Congress leader and former minister Suresh Kumar Routray has returned to the party fold.
The Congress has been out of power since 2000 in the state. At present, the Congress has 14 MLAs and one MP in Odisha.
PTI
