Bhubaneswar: Eying on crucial 2024 polls, the Governing Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has started its preparations to further strengthen its base across the State. The Party on Monday appointed observers for all 30 districts.
“In supersession of all the previous orders, the following BJD leaders have been appointed as district observers,” the BJD said in an official order.
Senior Lawmaker and BJD General Secretary (Organization) Pranab Prakash Das has been appointed as observer of Angul, Dhenkanal and Sambalpur districts, which are very important districts in terms of political view. He will also look after BJD affairs in Keonjhar.
There is buzz that Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is likely to contest elections in 2024 either from his Dhenkanal or Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat.
Besides, Sambalpur is represented by Leader of Opposition Jayanarayan Mishra, who is a strong critic of Naveen Patnaik Government. So, the ruling party has assigned its tallest leader for the districts. Apart from the three districts, Shri Das will also look after Keonjhar district, which is represented by BJP Chief Whip Mohan Majhi.
Senior leaders and Ministers Tukuni Sahu, Usha Devi and Rohit Pujari, who featured in the observers’ list released in October last year, have been dropped. Similarly, retired bureaucrat and senior BJD leader Nalinikanta Pradhan, who was the observer for Sambalpur district, has also been dropped from the list.
Amaresh Jena (Deogarh), Rabindra Kumar Jena (Khurda) and Debesh Acharya (Sonepur) have been included in the list.
Senior leader and Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak has been given the responsibility of two south Odisha districts—Rayagada and Gajapati while Dibya Shankar Mishra will look after the organisation in another two south districts—Malkangiri and Koraput.
Minister Pratap Keshari Deb is the observer for Balasore district and Sudhir Samal to continue as Bargarh district observer. Following the party’s poor show in Dhamnagar by-poll, the BJD has assigned senior Lawmaker Pratap Jena to strengthen the party in Bhadrak district, the native area of BJP State President Manmohan Samal too.
Irritation for Jajpur leader in Bhadrak has also taken care of. Earlier Lawmaker from Jajpur district Pranab Balabantray was observer for this coastal district.
Senior leader and ex-Minister Susanta Singh will continue to look after the organisation in Bolangir district, Prafulla Mallik—Cuttack, Arun Kumar Sahoo—Jagatsinghpur, Bijay Nayak—Kandhamal, Pramila Mallick—Kendrapara, Rabindra Jena—Khurda, Ishwar Panigrahi—Nabarangpur, Padmanav Behera—Nayagarh, Snehangini Churia—Nuapada, Ranendra Pratap Swain—Puri and Pritiranjan Ghadei—Sundergarh.
The other leaders, who have been appointed as district observers are—Pranab Balabantray (Kalahandi), Pradip Kumar Amat (Ganjam), Soubhagya Nayak (Boudh), Ashok Chandra Panda (Jajpur), Sarada Prasad Nayak (Jharsuguda) and Prashan Muduli (Mayurbhanj).
The party has given the crucial responsibilities to the young leaders and very few senior leaders. These leaders will have to strengthen the party at the grassroot level and ensure there is no descent within the organisation.
The Governing party has revamped its organisational structure after the BJP formed a strong team at State-level.
The BJP has first appointed senior leader and good organiser Sunil Bansal as in-charge of the State unit. Then, senior MLA Jayanarayan Mishra was appointed as Leader of Opposition in the Assembly. Former Minister and excellent rganiser Manmohan Samal appointed as Odisha BJP President.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is also there. It given clear message that there will be a strong fight between the BJD and BJP in the upcoming election.
