Bhubaneswar: BJD supremo and former chief minister Naveen Patnaik is poised to extend his leadership of the regional party for the ninth consecutive term as he filed his nomination papers for the post on Thursday. With no other contenders in the fray, Naveen is set to be elected unopposed, further cementing his two-and half decades-long grip on the party president’s position.
BJD sources said Naveen’s re-election will be announced on Saturday. While Naveen’s position in the regional party remains unquestionable, his nomination comes on the backdrop of the demand from senior BJD MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain to give proper representation to SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities in party’s organisational elections.
BJP and BJD exchanged barbs over the opposition party’s polls. Senior BJD members Pratap Jena said party members have unanimity to re-elect Naveen as their next chief while everybody else will be comfortable with whatever role is assigned to them.
Jena pointed out the smooth election process in BJD while questioning the delay in naming the next state BJP president, which is under deliberation for the past six months.
Responding to Jena, state BJP president Manmohan Samal questioned internal democracy in BJD. “They have to do the paperwork because Election Commission of India has asked every political party to elect office-bearers. Otherwise, where is the democratic process in BJD?” Samal asked.
On BJP’s delayed organisational elections, Samal said being a democratic party, the poll is being conducted following a due democratic process. “Many state units have elected their presidents while states such as Odisha will do soon,” he said.