BHUBANESWAR: After the expulsion of former minister Damodar Rout from BJD and announcement of senior law maker to organise a workers’ conference within the next two to three days, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik appointed several new office-bearers to strengthen Jagatsinghpur district organisational set-up of the party.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Pratap Jena has been appointed co-observer for Jagatsinghpur district in addition to his charge as Angul district observer. Women and Child Development Minister Prafulla Samal is now the party’s observer for Jagatsinghpur district.
Besides, party MLA Prashant Kumar Muduli has been appointed working president of the Jagatsinghpur district BJD. Muduli along with Jagatsinghpur district president Bisnu Charan Das had led party workers to Naveen Nivas to lodge complaint against Rout for allegedly indulging in anti-party activities following which Naveen had expelled Rout from the party. Disciplinary action against Rout had come after he made a series of corruption charges against the ruling BJD.
The Chief Minister also made several other organisational appointments to bolster the party apparatus in some districts. In a new development, party’s Rajya Sabha MP Soumya Ranjan Patnaik has been appointed senior observer for undivided Koraput district. Patnaik was elected as a BJD Rajya Sabha member in March this year.
While Minister for Steel and Mines Prafulla Kumar Mallick has been appointed the president of the Dhenkanal district, Minister of State for Commerce and Transport Nrusingha Charan Sahu has been appointed general secretary of the party. Minister of State Tourism and Culture Ashok Chandra Panda has been appointed president of Bhubaneswar district of the party while secretary Bijaya Kumar Nayak will be the co-observer of Dhenkanal.
BJDgeneral secretary and Rajya Sabha member Prasanta Nanda said the new appointments will supersede all previous organisational appointments.