BHUBANESWAR: AS BJD battles factionalism and desertion from the party after its defeat in the 2024 elections, several senior leaders of the party had a closed door meeting at the residence of deputy leader of the BJD legislature party Prasanna Acharya on Wednesday triggering speculation.
The meeting was attended by former ministers Ashok Panda, Prafulla Samal, Bhupinder Singh, Padmanabha Behera and former MLA Debesh Acharya. Defeated in the last election, most of the leaders wielded some influence in the party, but have remained sidelined for the last several months.
Though the leaders did not reveal the reason behind such a meeting, sources said discussion was about how the party is still being run by a ‘coterie’ even after the electoral debacle. BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik has started outreach initiatives but there is no change in the way of functioning and it was the major thrust of the discussion at the meeting.
Since organisational election of the party will be completed by March, the meeting was also a show of strength by the ‘old guard’ which want their share in the office-bearers’ list. However, Acharya said the leaders had gone to inquire about his health. “I am under treatment and will visit hospital for check-up tomorrow. The leaders had come to meet me after getting information about my health,” he added.