ROURKELA: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is scheduled to make a whirlwind tour of three Assembly segments in Sundargarh district on December 4. The party insiders claimed that Naveen may arrive for a third visit in three weeks after December 10 to cover Rajgangpur segment.
Naveen’s frequent visit to the district for laying foundation stones and inaugurations is seen in the political circles as an attempt to consolidate BJD’s position in the district for the upcoming three-tier Panchayat elections. While the ruling BJD has gone ahead with poll preparations which it started three months back, opposition BJP and Congress are grossly lagging behind.
A top administrative officer said no official communication has yet been received from Chief Minister’s Office about the visit. Rourkela unit BJD president AC Mohanty exuded confidence that the BJD would better its performance in the 35-member Sundargarh Zilla Parishad (ZP) council compared to 2012 poll when it bagged 20 seats. This time the post of the ZP president is reserved for ST (Woman). ENS