BHUBANESWAR: The sudden visit of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to New Delhi on Saturday and his meeting with national BJP president JP Nadda has once again sparked talks over the likelihood of a cabinet reshuffle.
With no official statement from the government or the party about the CM’s visit to the national capital along with state BJP president Manmohan Samal and state BJP in-charge Vijaypal Singh Tomar, sources in the party said the summoning of the three leaders to Delhi indicates that something is going to happen soon. The presence of Samal and Tomar underscored the importance of both governance and party matters.
“There are three important issues at hand to address. The first and foremost is cabinet expansion which is long overdue. However, Samal recently ruled out the possibility anytime soon. Restructuring of the state committee of the party with appointment of new office-bearers and political appointment to corporations and boards are also due,” the sources added. Selection of candidate for the upcoming by-election to Nuapada Assembly constituency is the other issue which might have figured during the discussion with Nadda. The by-election is likely to be held along with Bihar Assembly polls sometime in November.
Samal was re-elected as the state unit president of the BJP for a record fourth term on July 8 and is still to reconstitute his team of office-bearers.
Sharing photographs of his meeting with Nadda on his official X platform, the chief minister said, he had courtesy meeting with party national president JP Nadda. “During this meeting, detailed discussions were held on various organisational matters, the political situation and the roadmap for future initiatives,” said Majhi.
The chief minister also called on the newly-elected Vice-President of India CP Radhakrishnan. “On this occasion, I shared details of our government’s development initiatives, welfare programmes and future roadmap for the state. I also presented the ‘Odisha Vision 2036 | 2047’, outlining the state’s long-term goals. Grateful for his guidance and encouragement,” Majhi said in another post.
The chief minister returned to Bhubaneswar in the evening to attend a private function while Samal and Tomar have stayed back.