Bhubaneswar: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president and Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday evening met 10 party MLAs at his residence here to discuss preparations and strategies for the upcoming panchayat elections in Odisha.
The meeting focused on strengthening the party’s grassroots network, addressing constituency-specific issues, and formulating effective outreach plans.
Naveen emphasised the need to capitalise on growing public discontent against the BJP-led state government by highlighting its alleged anti-people policies and failures in fulfilling promises. He advised the MLAs to intensify direct engagement with the public, raise awareness about the government’s shortcomings, and continue serving people in line with the BJD’s ideals.
The discussion also covered overall development works in their respective constituencies. Naveen also enquired about issues concerning farmers, including the status of paddy procurement.
The MLAs who attended the meeting included Pratap Keshari Deb (Aul), Bibhuti Bhushan Balabantaray (Jatni), Sarada Prasanna Nayak (Rourkela), Devi Ranjan Tripathy (Banki), Souvic Biswal (Choudwar-Cuttack), Jogesh Kumar Singh (Sundargarh), Adhiraj Mohan Panigrahi (Khariar), Sunil Mohanty (Puri), Rupesh Panigrahi (Paralakhemundi), and Rohit Joseph Tirkey (Biramitrapur).
This interaction is part of a series of consultative meetings the BJD supremo has been holding with BJD legislators in recent weeks to reorganise and energise the party following its transition to the opposition role after the 2024 assembly elections.
The upcoming panchayat polls are seen as a critical opportunity for the BJD to reconnect with voters at the grassroots level and challenge the ruling BJP government.
Earlier in the day, Panchayati Raj Minister Rabi Narayan Naik said that preparations are already underway and the government will conduct the panchayat elections within the stipulated timeline. He explained that the reorganisation and delimitation of panchayats will formally begin again once the new census is completed. He also mentioned that two inter-departmental meetings have already taken place on this matter. “People are submitting their suggestions and objections by writing to the department. We will consider those suggestions and objections for delimitation,” he added.
