BHUBANESWAR: Kendrapara has again been left out by Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik while appointing chairpersons of District Planning Committees (DPCs) leaving partymen surprised as the district has always been well represented in all non-Congress governments in Odisha.
Legislators from the district had also been ignored by the Chief Minister earlier when he had not inducted anyone in his Ministry after assuming office for the fifth consecutive time in May this year. Significantly, all the five Assembly segments in the district, including Patkura have gone in favour of the ruling BJD in the 2019 elections. Three BJD MLAs from the district - Sashi Bhusan Behera, Pratap Keshari Deb and Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak - have served in Naveen Patnaik Cabinet in different periods during the last 19 years.
Deb, who was a Rajya Sabha member, contested from Aul constituency and won with a huge margin of over 50,000 votes. But, the complete sidelining of MLAs from Kendrapara district by the BJD supremo this time has given rise to speculation in political circles here. This is for the first time that Kendrapara district has gone without any minister.
It was thought in political circles that a legislator from the district will be included in the ministry after election to the Patkura Assembly constituency. But, the Chief Minister has bypassed the district while appointing chairpersons to DPCs. Though nobody in the BJD has so far been able to figure out what went wrong, sources said the party supremo is not happy over the margin of victory in the Patkura election.
Minister for Food Supply and Consumer Welfare Ranendra Pratap Swain has been made planning committee chairperson for Kendrapara district. It remains to be seen now whether any MLA from Kendrapara district will be picked up for heading the State-owned public sector undertakings (PSUs). The BJD supremo has already started exercise for the appointment of party leaders in State owned-PSUs. All of them are not likely to be legislators as the Chief Minister will also have to accommodate ignored ministerial aspirants, defeated party candidates and those not given tickets for 2019 elections.
Appointment of chairpersons of DPCs has sparked off intense speculation in BJD circles for another reason also as the Chief Minister accommodated all ministers, except three. Those left out include Agriculture and Higher Education Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo, Minister of State Tourism, Odia Literature and Culture Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi and Minister of State for Skill Education and Technical Education Premanand Nayak.