Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi is set to depart for Delhi tonight. State BJP President Manmohan Samal will also be travelling to the national capital in a day or two, sources said on Friday.
The Delhi visit of the two top leaders has once again sparked speculation over a possible Cabinet expansion and reshuffle before Diwali. Alongside Cabinet changes, key appointments to state corporations and PSUs may also be finalised during this trip, according to sources.
However with Nuapada bypoll around the corner, Majhi and Samal are also likely to have been summoned by the national leadership to discussion about possible candidates for the seat, which fell vacant due to demise of four-time BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia. A central team is reportedly also in the Nuapada to conduct a survey.
“A BJP leaders, who is popular among the people and adheres to the party ideology is likely to be picked as the candidate for the bypoll,” Samal told reporters.
The by-election for the Nuapada Assembly constituency, which is likely to be held along with the Bihar Assembly elections, is set to shape the leadership of CM Majhi, BJD president Naveen Patnaik, and OPCC president Bhakta Charan Das, each facing their first election in a new role.
To cash in on the sympathy wave, the BJD is likely to field the late MLA’s son Joy Dholakia in the by-election, Congress, which is making efforts to re-establish its influence in the state, might give a ticket to Ghasiram Majhi, who finished close second in 2024 elections which he contested as an independent. BJP, on the other hand, is likely to renominate Abhinandan Panda, who finished third in the last election. He is the son of Basanta Panda, who won the seat for the saffron party in 2014, and has a decent organisation in Nuapada.
A win for BJP will not only increase its tally in assembly but also demonstrate that the 2024 win was no fluke.
Incidentally, Samal’s leadership was pivotal in the BJP’s 2022 Dhamnagar by-election victory, which broke the BJD’s undefeated bypoll streak since 2009. Though he himself lost the Assembly election from Chandabali constituency in Bhadrak district, the veteran politician is widely credited for the party’s historic victory in the 2024 Odisha Assembly elections, ending the BJD’s 24-year reign and enabling the BJP to form its first-ever government in the state. He took a strong stand against any alliance with the BJD for the twin polls and convinced the party’s central leadership to fight alone.
Delay In Cabinet Expansion
Differences between the BJP government in Odisha and the state party leadership was earlier attributed to the delay in cabinet expansion and in appointing heads to state-run corporations.
After assuming office on June 12 last year, Majhi inducted 14 leaders into his ministry, with expectations that the remaining vacancies would be filled within a month. Despite completing a year in office, six ministerial positions remain vacant.
