BHUBANESWAR: Ahead of the organisational elections in the BJD, senior leaders have decided to meet party president Naveen Patnaik within the next week to discuss structural changes in the organisation to arrest the decreasing support base of the party. The meeting is likely to take place before the second phase of the budget session of the Assembly which will begin on March 7.
Speaking to TNIE, a senior leader said several demands like revival of parliamentary board, disciplinary and election committees besides review of the party’s election defeat and fixing of responsibility for the same were made in a letter submitted to the party president three months back. But the concerns were not addressed, he said.
“These committees functioned in the party for the first 15 years but later became irrelevant as power became centralised with the then chief minister Naveen Patnaik and the coterie around him. The trend became very prominent in the 2024 election as senior leaders were not allowed to campaign for the party,” he added.
Around 25 senior leaders had met at the residence of a former minister here on February 25 to take stock of the situation. It was decided that they will meet the party president again as none of the six issues raised by them has been sorted out as promised. They are also planning a press conference after the meeting with Naveen.
“We want to make it public that corrective measures suggested by us were not adopted. Nobody is against the leadership of Naveen Patnaik but leaders are opposed to the coterie,” he added.
Discontentment has been brewing in the BJD after the party’s defeat in the 2024 elections. Senior party leaders are meeting at regular intervals. Youths leaders have also met several times to express their concern over the state of affairs in the party.