Senior Congress leader Jaydev Jena on Thursday claimed that the 2024 Assembly election could be "last chance" for the party to come to power in Odisha as the people are annoyed with both BJD and BJP.
Jena, a former Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president, said all Congress leaders should come together and fight the 2024 election to return to power in the state after two decades.
"If we cannot win the 2024 elections in Odisha, there is no scope for the party for another 15 years. And if Congress forms government in 2024, it will remain in power for another 15 years. Therefore, all the party leaders should come together and fight the elections to defeat both the BJD and the BJP," Jena said.
"If Congress fails in 2024 Odisha Assembly election, even God cannot save the party," he said. When contacted OPCC president Sarat Pattnayak said though the Congress has only nine MLAs in the 147-member Odisha Assembly now but the party is optimistic to raise its number to 90 in the 2024 elections.
"The Congress will perform well to secure 90 seats in the 2024 Assembly election,” he said. Describing the BJD and the BJP as two sides of the same coin, Pattnayak claimed that they are now "exposed" and the people have already "recognised their real face".
(With PTI inputs)
