Naveen seeks to boost morale of BJD leaders

Bhubaneswar : The BJD president, Naveen Patnaik, on Thursday sought to boost the morale of the defeated party leaders and assured them that he would continue to lead them from the front.

Naveen lost power in Odisha after 24 years as his BJD failed to secure majority in the State Assembly and even did not secure any Lok Sabha seat. Naveen held a meeting with party leaders, who lost the seats they contested in simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, at his residence Naveen Niwas. As many as 62 party MLAs and 12 MPs were defeated in the 2024 elections.

“We requested him to lead the party from the front and he assured us that he would guide us. He is the BJD’s ultimate leader,” Pranab Prakash Das, the organisational secretary of the party, said. Das himself lost in Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat by a margin of over 1 lakh votes to Union minister and BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan.

Das said Naveen told the visiting leaders that they have nothing to regret as the State has been transformed during the 24-year rule of the BJD. The party has served the people while in government and will continue to do so in the Opposition, Das quoted Naveen as saying.

On the possible reason behind the party’s debacle in the elections, Das said, “A committee has been formed and it will ascertain the cause.” Naveen’s close aide V K Pandian, who used to be present in all meetings of late, remained conspicuous by his absence.

Asked about the reason behind Pandian’s absence in the meeting, Das said, “Everything in BJD happens as per the direction of the president. It is his (Naveen) prerogative to decide who will remain in the meeting.”

Party spokesperson Sasmit Patra, however, said Pandian is on a tour to Delhi as per the direction of Naveen. Sasmit claimed that a section of media has issued “unfounded and misleading” reports about reasons behind Pandian’s absence from Odisha, whereas in fact he was in the national capital.

The BJP has stormed to power in Odisha, bagging 78 of the 147 Assembly seats, whereas the BJD could win only 51 seats. The Congress secured 14 seats, and the CPI (M) one. Three Independent candidates also emerged victorious.