Chairpersons of different corporations & boards to be appointed soon, says Manmohan Samal

Chairpersons of different corporations and boards under the Odisha government will be appointed soon, informed State BJP President Manmohan Samal on Sunday.

According to Samal, chairpersons of various corporations and boards will be appointed after the completion of the membership drive of BJP and worthy persons with experience will be given preference for the posts.

“BJP government has completed 100 days of governance in the State. The promises given by the government on the day of the oath-taking ceremony have been kept during the period. The membership drive is currently in the last phase. Following its completion, worthy persons will be given the responsibility to run the corporations and boards,” said Samal.

“We will take a decision in this regard very soon. The decision will be taken following party-level and minister-level discussions. It has been planned to appoint experienced persons, scientists and ex-servicemen as the chairpersons of the boards and corporations. Policy planning will be made for this and steps will be taken in this direction accordingly,” he added.

Challenge for BJP

Though BJP government has completed three months in Odisha, chairpersons of many boards and corporations are still to be appointed. The State has as many as 37 corporations and many boards. Among those, mainly chairpersons for Odisha Tourism Development Corporation, Odisha State Cashew Development Corporation, Odisha Fisheries Cooperative Corporation, Odisha Lift Irrigation Corporation and Khadi Board are yet to be appointed. 

After BJP came to power, BJD leaders appointed as chairpersons of different boards and corporations were removed on June 22. Moreover, the newly formed government also dissolved all the 23 special development councils (SDCs) established in as many tribal-dominated districts of the State.  However, the Chairpersons and members are yet to be appointed. As per political experts, the party will face a tough challenge while selecting leaders for the posts.

Leaders in race

As per sources, many BJP leaders have already started lobbying for the posts. However, according to political experts, the party leaders who have played important roles in the election, but denied tickets will be given preference for the posts. 

Leaders like party vice-president Golak Mohapatra, Biranchi Tripathy, Simanchal Khatei, Jatin Mohanty and Sarada  Satpathy are leading the race. Moreover, the names of Jayanta Jena, Samir Ranjan Dash, Surath Biswal, Sudipta Ray, Sajjan Sharma, Rajendra Panda and Anil Biswal are also doing the rounds for the posts. Though leaders like Pradipta Naik, Jagannath Pradhan, Kusum Tete, Goutam Ray and Priyadarshi Mishra have lost the elections, they may be considered for the posts.

“I have been working for the party for the last 26 years. The party has always selected the right person for the right place. As I have worked for the party for so many years, I am definitely an aspirant. But our party is a democratic party. The party has never done any kind of injustice towards anybody,” said BJP leader Jayanta Jena.