Bhubaneswar: The cries for the resignation of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Sarat Pattanayak grew louder with senior party leaders coming out in support of the idea openly.

Speaking to mediapersons, senior leader Panchanan Kanungo on Thursday said: "I don’t know whether the PCC president has resigned or not. It is my personal opinion that as the party suffered a poll debacle and the PCC president himself lost the elections, he should resign."

The veteran leader also said that he had written a letter to Pattanayak to convene a meeting and review the lacuna on why the party in Odisha failed to read the strong wave in favour of change of regime, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) succeeded in acquiring power, cashing in on the anti incumbency.

Similarly, another senior leader and former OPCC president Jayadev Jena said that he had resigned from his post in the past when the Congress failed to form the government in the state in the 2014 elections.

Meanwhile, Pattanaik asserted that the party performed well in the 2024 elections as compared to the previous Assembly election.

He said the party's seat tally has increased to 14 against the six seats it won in the 2019 Assembly polls.

Notably, the party recently expelled five party workers holding them guilty of the ink attack on the OPCC president at Congress Bhawan here on June 21.

(IANS)