BHUBANESWAR : In the face of growing discontentment within the party following its shock defeat in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, the BJD on Sunday held a meeting with senior leaders to discuss the issue and ways to contain it.
Though the BJD is yet to constitute a committee to analyse the reasons behind the party’s drubbing, several leaders have started opening up about the issue.
Speaking to mediapersons after the meeting, BJD chief whip Pramila Mallick, however, said BJD is united and steps are being taken to rectify the defects which led to the defeat of the party in the elections. Refuting claims that BJD faced defeat due to internal conspiracy, she said, “There was no such conspiracy. Every leader is with the party. No leader has done anything wrong. It’s the individual opinion of the leaders.”
Mallick said steps will be initiated in the coming days to revitalise the party so that it can play effective role of an Opposition. Senior BJD leader Debi Prasad Mishra had said on Saturday that the party lost the election because of complacency among leaders. “Everything becomes a bit sluggish if a party remains in power for a long period and it was reflected in the election result. Those who worked hard have won.”
Earlier, former MLAs Sambit Routray and Pravat Ranjan Biswal and former minister Nrusingha Charan Sahu had said the party lost because of sabotage from within.
Meanwhile, former minister Amar Prasad Satpathy who was denied ticket by the BJD in the 2024 election on Sunday praised the BJP government in the state for fulfilling election promise by opening the Ratna Bhandar of Lord Jagannath temple in Puri.