Niranjan Patnaik PCC president for Orissa

Veteran Congress leader Niranjan Pattnaik has been appointed as the President of the Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC), ending months of speculation over the appointment to this key post. The appointment of Pattnaik coincided with the visit of AICC general secretary and in charge of the party's affairs in Orissa, Jagdish Tytler.

There was intense speculation surrounding the appointment of the Congress president in the state and the names doing the rounds included senior Congress leader Chandrasekhar Sahu and that of working president, Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra besides Patnaik.

Patnaik, a four-time MLA began his political career from Keonjhar and served as ministers in different stints under the Congress regime in the state, handling key portfolios like industries, energy, health & family welfare and water resources.

He succeeds K P Singh Deo who has been serving as the PCC president in the state for two years and five months.