Odisha: BJD makes organisational rejig after election debacle

Khordha (Odisha) [India], July 8 (ANI): Following the defeat in recently held Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) President Naveen Patnaik on Sunday issued orders for restructuring the BJD.

The restructuring aims to address the poll debacle and includes new appointments within the party.

As part of the restructuring, 14 leaders, including Prasanna Acharya, Pramila Mallik, Debi Prasad Mishra, Pratap Keshari Deb, Arun Kumar Sahoo, Captain Dibya Shankar Mishra, Devi Ranjan Tripathy, Shrimayee Sweta Snigdha Mishra, Lekhashree Samantsinghar, Sudam Marndi, Sulata Deo, Ramesh Chandra Majhi, Bhrugu Baxipatra, and Lenin Mohanty, have been appointed as state-level spokespersons.

At the national level, Santrupt Misra, Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, Amar Patnaik, Sasmit Patra, and Pradeep Kumar Majhi have been appointed as spokespersons for the BJD.

Santrupt Misra has also been appointed as the political secretary to Naveen Patnaik.

Additionally, Pratap Jena has been appointed as the Senior State Media Coordinator, Swayam Prakash as the Social Media Coordinator, and both Lenin Mohanty and Priyabrata Majhi as Media Coordinators.

Sukant Kumar Panda has been appointed as the Public Relations Officer to the Leader of the Opposition and BJP President Naveen Patnaik.

The party has dissolved its state-level office bearers, with new appointments to be made soon. However, district-level BJD office bearers will continue in their positions.

Notably, in the 18th Lok Sabha elections, the BJD faced a significant setback, failing to secure any of the 21 seats, while the BJP won 20 seats and Congress managed to win one seat. In the state assembly elections, the BJD won 51 out of 147 seats, while the BJP secured a majority by winning 78 seats.

The Biju Janata Dala, which has ruled Odisha since 1997, lost to the BJP, breaking the 24-year-old reign of Naveen Patnaik as the Chief Minister.

VK Pandian, a former bureaucrat and close aide to the ex-chief minister, has stepped back from active politics after the party’s electoral loss.