Bhubaneswar, May 5: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) President Naveen Patnaik, re-elected for a record ninth term, announced a restructured party team on Monday, bringing in a mix of seasoned leaders and new faces as the party gears up to regain momentum in Odisha.
The revamped team includes seven Senior Vice Presidents: Debi Prasad Mishra, Prafulla Samal, Usha Devi, Bikram Keshari Arukh, Pramila Mallick, Niranjan Pujari, and Chandra Sekhar Sahu—all prominent figures in the party with years of administrative and political experience.
Additionally, eight Vice Presidents have been appointed: Pratap Jena, Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Rajendra Dholkia, Sanjay Kumar Das Burma, Rabi Narayan Nanda, Aswini Kumar Patra, Pranab Prakash Das, and Sarada Prasad Nayak.
One of the most significant moves in the restructuring is the formation of the Political Affairs Committee, the party’s top decision-making body. Naveen Patnaik will head the committee as Chairman, with nine members onboard: Bikram Keshari Arukh, Pramila Mallick, Niranjan Pujari, Sanjay Kumar Das Burma, Pranab Prakash Das, Sudam Marndi, Tukuni Sahu, Dr. Sasmit Patra, and Dr. Santrupt Misra.
The new organisational structure also features 20 senior General Secretaries and 34 General Secretaries, with several changes made to frontal organisations, signaling a strategic overhaul aimed at rejuvenating the party cadre.
The revamp comes in the wake of the BJD’s defeat in the 2024 elections. With the Panchayat elections less than two years away, the reshuffle is seen as a key step towards reclaiming the party’s stronghold and countering the growing influence of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state.
