The All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Sunday dissolved the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) and also approved the names of the leader, deputy leader and chief whip of the Congress legislature party in Odisha a day ahead of the commencement of the session of the state Assembly.

The PCC, under the leadership of its president Sarat Pattanayak, was under immense pressure following its failure to put up a good show in the recently held election. It managed to win only 14 Assembly seats out of 147 seats at stake and bagged just one out of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Following the debacle, a section of party leaders alleged that the state leadership had failed to ensure good results because of irregularities in ticket distribution and favouritism displayed by the PCC top brass. A section of leaders openly alleged that the PCC leaders had taken money to allot tickets. However, Pattanayak categorically denied these allegations.

The vote share of the party dropped from 16.12 per cent in 2019 to 13.26 per cent in the 2024 election. Following a consistent demand for a change in leadership, the AICC has decided to go for a change.

The AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal in a release said: “The Congress president has approved the proposal of the complete dissolution of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee, including the PCC president, its office bearers and executive committee, district/block/mandal Congress committees, frontal organisations, departments and cells, with immediate effect.”

However, the AICC said that the current DCC (District Congress Committee) presidents will serve as acting presidents until new DCC presidents are appointed. It is to be seen who replaces incumbent PCC president Pattanayak.