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Bhubaneswar: The state leadership of the Congress party, the newly-elected MLAs and leader from the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Thursday met and brainstormed on the reasons why the national party performed badly in the recent elections.
Senior AICC leader TS Singh Deo met the newly-elected MLAs and also gave his suggestions to boost the party base in the state. The leader said that the party should at least have 30 per cent vote share in the state which has only seen a downward trend in the recent election. The leader also accepted the fact that expecting 70-80 per cent votes from Odisha could be unrealistic.
After meeting the party leaders, Deo said, “The vote percentage for the Congress party has come down to 16 per cent in the state. It is obvious now that we have to work hard to improve the party performance in the state in the days to come. I personally suggested that minimum 30 per cent vote share should be there for the Congress party in the state,” adding, “We are not after unrealistic goals like getting 80 per cent votes in Odisha. We have to become a good alternative in the state.”
Talking about his experience of the interaction with the Congress party leaders, Deo said, “We got the feedback from each MLA on the state leadership and their views on party affairs. The leader of the party in state legislative Assembly is chosen from the consensus of the members and vetted by the party president.” Deo said that the resolution to declare somebody as the leader of the party in the Assembly will be moved to the AICC president who will give his consent for the new role. Later the Congress Party Legislative leader would be chosen.
When asked about the role of dynastic politics of Congress in Odisha during the 2019 elections, he said, “Not all who lost were dynast leaders. Many of them have nothing to do with dynastic politics. Ticket should not be given on the basis of political lineage but based on performance but this does not mean son of any politician should not get party ticket.” On the other hand, Bolangir MLA Narasingha Mishra cited examples of leaders who, despite having lesser numbers, made good contributions to the legislative houses.