Bhubaneswar: The Governing Biju Janata Dal (BJD) President Naveen Patnaik on Saturday made a major reshuffle within the party with immediate effect giving new assignments to the partymen as Senior Observers and the Observers for all 30 districts.
As per a media statement made by BJD General Secretary (Media Affairs) Manas Ranjan Mangaraj, six senior BJD leaders including Debi Prasad Mishra, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, Prasanna Acharya and Maheswar Mohanty have been given crucial assignments. They have been appointed as Senior Observers for several Districts.
Mr.Mishra has been appointed as Senior Observer for Ganjam, Nayagarh, Kandhamal, Khordha, Puri & Boudh districts while Mr.Patnaik has given charge of Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Sonepur, Deogarh, Angul & Dhenkanal districts.
Similarly, Rajya Sabha MP Mr.Acharya to look after the party affairs in Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Bhadrak and Balasore districts. Mr.Mohanty is the Senior Observer for Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts.
Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha has given the charge of Southern districts—Malkangiri, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada and Gajapati districts. Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari is the Senior Observer for four western district—Nuapada, Kalahandi, Bolangir and Bargarh.
The ruling party has also named new Observers for all 30 districts. Party’s Organisational Secretary Pranab Prakash Das has been appointed as the observer of Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar District while MLA Chandra Sarathi Behera has been appointed as the observer of Koraput and Malkangiri districts.
Senior Ministers have also been given charge of various districts. They are Prafulla Mallik (Ganjam district), Samir Ranjan Dash (Jagatsinghpur), Ashok Chandra Panda (Jajpur), Naba Kishore Das (Kalahandi), Pratap Jena (Kandhamal), Sushanta Singh (Bolangir & Deogarh), Tusharakanti Behera (Nabarangpur), Padmanav Behera (Nayagarh), Dibya Shankar Mishra (Nuapada), Ranendra Pratap Swain (Puri),
Senior BJD MLA Pratap Keshari Deb has been given the charge of Balasore district, Sudhir Kumar Samal appointed for Bargarh district, Prasanta Muduli for Angul, Pranab Balabantaray for Bhadrak, Soubhagya Nayak for Boudh and Usha Devi for Cuttack.
Similarly, former Minister and MLA Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak will look after the party affairs in Gajapati & Rayagada districts whereas young BJD leader Bijay Nayak will continue to work for Dhenkanal district.
Moreover, Nalini Kanta Pradhan is the District Observer of Sambalpur, Subash Singh appointed for Jharsuguda, Debashish Samantaray for Kendrapara, Pramila Mallik for Khurda, Pradip Kumar Amat for Subarnapur and Pritiranjan Gharai for Sundergarh.
Two senior leaders Sanjay Das Burma and Arun Sahoo have not given any responsibility raises eyebrows. While Mr.Das Burma has been removed from the charge of Observers for two districts, Mr.Sahoo has not been enlisted. Some new faces have been included and young veteran Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak has been given crucial responsibilities.
This sudden reshuffle in the party during the pandemic has created a spark within the party circle and power corridor of Odisha Government. Local political analysts feel that it is an indication that a big change is likely to happen in the Government very soon.
Naveen may prepare for reshuffle in his Council of Ministers keeping an eye on upcoming Urban and Rural Polls. Further, the change in faces in districts will encourage the party workers, who are in a little neutral mode due to Covid-19 pandemic, the Political Pundits say.