Bhubaneswar: Senior BJD leader and party Vice-President Raghunath Mohanty has been appointed as the chairman of Odisha Lift Irrigation Corporation.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has accorded Cabinet rank to Mohanty besides appointing him as the chairman of the Odisha Lift Irrigation Corporation.
Mohanty was re-appointed as the BJD's vice president and Dhenkanal district observer after being reinstated back into the party's fold earlier in March this year.
He was removed from the post of vice-president after getting arrested in connection with the much-hyped dowry torture case filed by his daughter- in-law Barsha Swony Choudhury in 2013.
Mohanty who won as Janata Dal candidate in 1990 and 1995 had also successfully contested elections from Basta Assembly constituency as BJD candidate in 2000, 2004 and 2009 elections. He held several portfolios including the Law department.
Meanwhile, in another related development, the state government has appointed Sandhyabati Pradhan as the chairperson of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR) for a period of 3 years.