Bhubaneswar: Following appointment of party leaders in various public sector undertakings (PSUs) and other government agencies, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik Friday appointed party observers for all the districts.
Former minister Sanjay Kumar Das Burma has been appointed as BJD observer for Rayagada and Nabarangpur districts while MLA Chandra Sarathi Behera is the observer for Koraput and Malkangiri districts.
Among ministers, Naba Kisore Das has been appointed as the party’s observer for Kalahandi, Prafulla Kumar Mallik for Bargarh, Sushanta Singh for Bolangir, Bikram Keshari Arukha for Kalahandi, Niranjan Pujari for Angul, Dibya Shankar Mishra for Keonjhar, Pratap Jena for Balasore, Ranendra Pratap Swain for Bhadrak, Ashok Chandra Panda for Jajpur and Padmanabha Behera for Jharsuguda.
Former minister Maheswar Mohanty has been given the responsibility of the organisation in Chief Minister’s home turf Ganjam district while Purna Chandra Swain to look after Gajapati, Bijay Nayak (Dhenkanal), Krutibash Patra (Boudh), Priti Ranjan Ghadai (Sundargarh), Pranab Prakash Das (Mayurbhanj), Pramila Mallick (Kendrapara), Debasish Samantaray (Jagatsinghpur), Pradip Amat (Puri), Prasanna Acharya (Khurda), Soubhagya Nayak (Nuapada), Usha Devi (Cuttack), Amar Satpathy (Nayagarh) and Haji Md. Ayub Khan (Sonepur).
Bureaucrat-turned-politician Nalini Kanta Pradhan has been appointed as party observer for Sambalpur and Deogarh districts. Pradhan had unsuccessfully contested the Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat.
Meanwhile, the party has decided to launch its membership drive September 2 to strengthen its base. The BJD has formed a state level panel to monitor the membership drive. The members of the committee are: Prasanna Acharya, Debi Prasad Mishra (convener), Pramila Mallick, Sanjay Das Burma, Pratap Keshari Deb, Pradeep Panigrahi and Pranab Prakash Das. The members will co-ordinate the drive to ensure high participation from people, said sources.