Odisha: BJD Appoints MLA Pratap Keshari Deb As Returning Officer For Organisational Polls

Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s main opposition party Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has appointed its MLA Pratap Keshari Deb as returning officer for the party’s organisational elections.

An official order, signed by BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Monday, said as per article XXIII (2) of the Constitution of the BJD, Pratap Keshari Deb, MLA is appointed as State Returning Officer for smooth conduct of organisational elections of the party immediately.

The BJD, which had remained in power for continuous 24 years in the state, was brought down by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in an unprecedented saffron wave in the last Assembly elections in 2024.

While the BJP won 78 out of total 147 Assembly seats to form the government, the BJD had to sit in the Opposition with its 51 MLAs.