BHUBANESWAR: National vice-president and former Union minister Daggubati Purandeswari returned as the BJP’s Odisha in-charge as part of a nationwide reshuffle of state prabharis and saha prabharis announced by the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday.
She replaces Vijaypal Singh Tomar, while Swadesh Singh has been appointed co-in-charge of the state in place of Lata Usendi. The reshuffle was announced by the party following approval from BJP national president Nitin Nabin.
Purandeswari had earlier served as the party’s Odisha in-charge from November 2020 to 2022, when the BJP was in Opposition in the state. She was succeeded by national general secretary Sunil Bansal. Her return comes after the party formed the government in Odisha in 2024 and ahead of the forthcoming local body elections.
Purandeswari, a senior BJP leader from Andhra Pradesh and daughter of former chief minister and matinee idol NT Rama Rao, will oversee the party’s organisational affairs in Odisha, with Singh assisting her as co-in-charge.
Similarly, national BJP vice-president and Kendrapara MP Baijayant Panda has been appointed the party’s in-charge for Maharashtra.
Prior to the reshuffle, Panda was in charge of Assam, having been appointed the state in-charge in November 2020. He was subsequently entrusted with overseeing the party’s preparations for the 2026 Assam Assembly election.
Welcoming the appointments, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi congratulated Purandeswari and Singh and said their organisational experience would strengthen the BJP’s grassroots connect across Odisha.
“A warm welcome to Smt. D. Purandeswari Ji as the Odisha In-charge and Dr. Swadesh Singh Ji as the Co-Incharge,” Majhi said in a post on X. He expressed confidence that their leadership and rich experience would further strengthen the organisation across the state.
