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The former Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, has been unanimously elected as the chairperson of the BJD's parliamentary party, a party leader said.
The decision was taken in the BJD's Parliamentary Party meeting held on Friday. After the meeting, BJD MP Sasmit Patra told ANI, "The BJD Parliamentary Party meeting was held...presided by Naveen Patnaik...All the MPs have unanimously elected Naveen Patnaik as chairperson of the BJD Parliamentary Party...". Patra said Naveen Patnaik told them in the meeting to "strongly counter" the BJP-led central government. "In the meeting, Naveen Patnaik advised all the MPs to raise issues of critical importance to Odisha. He advised us to have robust, strong opposition and strongly counter the BJP-led central govt...," he said. The BJD MP alleged that the BJP completely neglected the people of Odisha in the last ten years. "For almost a decade, the BJP has been in power but they have completely neglected the people of Odisha...," he alleged. After the meeting, Sulata Deo, another BJD MP, told ANI, "BJD has always stood for the people...We will fulfil our responsibility as an opposition party. Our party President Naveen Patnaik has advised us to work for the people, be their voice, and raise issues of Odisha in the Parliament..." Earlier on Wednesday, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) formed a group of 50 elected members to keep a watch on the performance of different departments of the recently formed BJP-led Odisha government. The BJD has assigned responsibilities to its elected members to play the role of a strong opposition. Notably, in the state assembly elections, the BJD won 51 out of 147 seats, while the BJP secured a majority by winning 78 seats. The Biju Janata Dala, which has ruled Odisha since 1997, lost to the BJP, breaking the 24-year-old reign of Naveen Patnaik as the Chief Minister. In the Lok Sabha elections too, the BJD faced a significant setback, failing to secure any of the 21 seats, while the BJP won 20 seats and Congress managed to win one seat. VK Pandian, a former bureaucrat and close aide to the ex-chief minister, has stepped back from active politics after the party's electoral loss. (ANI)
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