BHUBANESWAR: On his first visit to Odisha after being appointed as the BJP national president, Nitin Nabin got down to business, chairing a crucial core committee meeting at the state party headquarters here on Monday. He also held extensive interactions with ministers, MLAs, MPs, office-bearers and presidents of different affiliate organisations later in the evening.
Nabin, who arrived in Bhubaneswar late on Sunday night, held a closed-door meeting attended by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, state BJP president Manmohan Samal, deputy chief ministers Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo and Pravati Parida, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, MPs Sambit Patra and Pratap Chandra Sarangi along with Odisha in-charge Vijay Pal Singh Tomar, co-in-charge Lata Usendi and other senior leaders.
According to party sources, the discussions largely focused on strengthening the BJP organisation at the grassroots-level and preparing the party machinery for the politically crucial rural polls next year. He also called for fine-tuning the party’s organisational and governance strategy in the state.
Nabin reportedly stressed a ‘365-day organisational activity model’ instead of election-centric mobilisation and directed leaders to ensure structured meetings at every level of the organisation every month. Under the proposed framework, mandal meetings will be held in the first week, district meetings in the second, Shakti Kendra meetings in the third, while booth-level meetings along with ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programmes will be organised in the last week of every month.
The BJP chief also emphasised stronger coordination between elected representatives and grassroots workers, with emphasis on quick escalation of issues to higher levels instead of public criticism at lower organisational tiers. The discussions also centred around effective implementation of government welfare schemes at the district and panchayat levels and enhanced digital outreach to communicate the achievements of both the Centre and the state government among the masses, sources said.
The core committee also discussed a possible expansion of the council of ministers and appointments to various state boards and corporations. After the meetings, Nabin inaugurated a BJP training programme at Jatni in Khurda district and visited Shree Jagannath temple in Puri along with the chief minister and senior leaders.