Odisha Pradesh Congress committee is the first political party to have released the names of 44 candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in the state going to be held next year. A Pradesh election committee meeting was held yesterday in which the names were finalized. OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik said that the candidates basis of the chances they have of winning.
He addressed the reporters after the meeting and said “We had announced to finalise names of probable candidates by August-end. We listed up 44 probable MLA candidates today. In coming days, more candidates will be selected. The selections are being made on consideration of their winning prospects”, he said. He also said that emphasis has been given to youth leaders. The names of the candidates were not made public but will be done so after the Durga Puja.
The list of prospective candidates would be sent to the party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) and then to All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Rahul Gandhi who will finally approve the names. Out of 44 candidates there are twelve sitting MLAs.
Meanwhile, Koraput MLA Krushna Chandra Sagaria, who was appointed as the PCC general secretary two days ago has resigned from the post. Expressing disappointment he said, “I was removed from the Congress Scheduled Cast cell chairman post and appointed as a general secretary of the PCC. Nobody in the party discussed with me before taking the decision. I feel a conspiracy has been hatched against me. Hence, I resigned from the general secretary post”. However, he said that he has no plans to quit the party, rather he will contest the upcoming assembly elections.