Bhubaneswar: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is reportedly planning to strengthen itself as a cadre-based party with the involvement of all leaders and hence, it is expanding its organisation by creating senior vice-president and senior general secretary posts for the first time in the party.
The ruling party recently appointed eight leaders as senior vice-presidents, nine as vice-presidents and 53 as senior general secretaries and general secretaries. It also named 18 women leaders as observers and assigned specific responsibilities to each of them. Sources said, the appointment of party secretaries is also on the cards.
It may be mentioned that giving specific roles to leaders holding organisational posts is a new practice in the BJD. Though leaders of the ruling-party claim it's a part of the party's strategy to strengthen the organisation, oppositions parties have termed it as a strategic move to avoid infighting within the party.
Taking a jibe at the BJD president Naveen Patnaik, BJP MLA Pradipta Naik said, "Naveen babu has a history of creating many such histories. Are there no ministers to helm those departments? It's an attempt to maintain discipline within the party by avoiding infighting."
BJD distributed the various departments just to pacify its unhappy leaders within the party. The formation of jumbo teams with specific responsibilities is an attempt to accommodate the BJD leaders so that they will not feel neglected, alleged Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati.
Refuting the allegation, BJD MLA Rohit Pujari said that there is no infighting within the party over any post. "Naveen Patniak often gives responsibilities to party leaders and the recent move is also a part of it. There is also no dissidence," he said.
However, political experts believe that the expansion for a cadre-based party has been done eyeing the ministry level reshuffle in the near future. "For the upcoming ministry-level restructure there are many aspirants, so, it can be said as a move to limit the number of aspirants for the same," said senior journalist, Prasanna Mohanty.
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