Bhubaneswar: After receiving a debacle in the last 2024 elections, the Opposition BJD has formed 10 member Political Affairs Committee headed by party president Naveen Patnaik.
The party has named Bikram Keshari Arukha, Pramila Mallick, Niranjan Pujari, Sanjay Kumar Das Burma, Pranab Prakash Das, Sudam Marndi, Tukuni Sahu, Sasmit Patra and Santrupt Misra as members of the top panel.
After a long time, the BJD has formed the PAC to look after overall political affairs of one of the major political parties of the State.
The PAC is a high-level body within the BJD responsible for making critical political decisions, including election strategies, candidate selections, policy formulations, and ensuring the party’s direction aligns with its goals.
The Committee will also ensure coordination between different wings and resolve internal issues to maintain organizational strength, sources said.
The BJD leadership has included the leaders who have not utter any word against the party in the recent conflict erupted within the party following Waqf Bill stand in Parliament.
The BJD has also appointed new Chairpersons of different frontal organizations to strengthen the party.
To encash the competence and organizational skill of veteran BJD leader Ananga udaya Singh Deo, BJD Supremo Naveen Patnaik appointed him in a crucial responsibility as chief of party’s Regional Development Cell.
In an order, Shri Patnaik has appointed Shri Singh Deo as Senior Vice President of the party and Chairman of the Regional Development Cell.
Senior Vice President Prasanna Acharya has been appointed as head of Biju Krushak Janata Dal, the farmer wing of the party while Ranendra Pratap Swain will head the Cooperative Cell, Badri Narayan Patra as chief of Sikhya O Sikhyaka Cell, and Ramesh Chandra Chyau Patnaik to lead the Fishermen Cell.
Similarly, senior BJD leaders Mangala Kisan, Debashish Samantaray, Arun Kumar Sahoo and Mahesh Sahoo have been appointed as chief of Tribal, Senior Citizen, OBC, and SC Cells, respectively.
BJD senior general secretary Amar Patnaik has been posted as chief of IT and Social Media cell of the party.
In addition, the BJD Minority Cell has been constituted to enhance representation and engagement with diverse communities. The leadership team features Dilip Tirkey as Convenor, Rizwana Begum as Co-convenor, Muzibulla Khan as South Zone Coordinator, Ayub Khan as Western Zone Coordinator, and Sk Nizamuddin as Central Zone Coordinator. The committee aims to strengthen minority outreach.
The party has also appointed 15 senior BJD Vice-Presidents, eight Vice-Presidents, 20 senior general secretaries, 35 general secretaries and Subash Singh as Treasure.
While Debi Prasad Mishra has been appointed as Senior Vice President Headquarters, Vice President Pratap Jena has also been appointed in the Headquarter. The name of Bhupinder Singh is missing in the jumbo list.