No-Trust Vote Against BJD NAC Chairperson In Odisha’s Nimapara Falls

Bhubaneswar: The no-confidence motion brought against Sasmita Sahoo, chairperson of Nimapara notified area council (NAC) in Odisha’s Puri district, was defeated on Tuesday.

The defeat of the no-trust motion came as a jolt to former Minister Samir Ranjan Das as the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) managed to save the post of the chairperson despite his reported attempt to dislodge her.

As per information, eight of the eleven councillors voted during voting in the no-confidence motion. While seven councillors voted in favour of the no-trust motion, one vote was declared invalid.

However, the motion was defeated as it failed to secure the required support of two third of the councillors.

A BJP councillor, one from BJD and another independent member abstained from voting, sources said.

Sources said eight of the eleven councillors had signed the notice for no trust motion brought against Sasmita. They had alleged that  ever since she took charge as chairperson, Sasmita failed to discharge her duties and responsibilities sincerely as per the municipal law.

While the council is required to meet at least once a month, it has met hardly six times, they claimed, adding that the chairperson has been functioning in an arbitrary manner, ignoring the councillors.

Notably, after the urban bodies’ elections held in 2022, BJD had seven councillors, BJP had three members and there was an independent member. However, during the recent elections, several BJD members joined BJP and the strength of the conch party got reduced to two.

Trouble mounted for BJD after it denied ticket to senior leader and former Minister Samir Ranjan Das for Nimapara Assembly seat in the recent elections following which he quit the party and joined BJP. Several others including council members also quit the regional party and switched sides to BJP. Saffron party leader Pravati Parida won the Nimapara Assembly seat and subsequently became one of the two Deputy Chief Ministers.