Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik Friday restructured the Biju Krushak Janata Dal (BJKD) ahead of the 2019 polls.
The CM appointed senior BJD leader and Rajya Sabha member Prasanna Acharya as the ace office-bearers of the party’s farmer wing. Patnaik appointed party senior leader and MP Prasanna Acharya as the new president of the party’s farmer wing and Health Minister Pratap Jena as its secretary general.
“In supersession to all previous orders Hon’ble president Biju Janata Dal Shri Naveen Patnaik today appointed Sri Prasanna Acharya and Sri Pratap Jena as President and Secretary General of Biju Krushak Janata Dal (BKJD), Odisha respectively with immediate effect,” the press release stated.
Decision of CM comes at a time when Congress is claiming agrarian distress as one of the key reasons for BJP’s debacle in Madhya Pradhesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The party had announced that it would waive all farm loans and extend financial assistance to farmers in the State for five years, if it comes to power in 2019.
OPCC President Niranjan Patnaik had also said, if voted to power, the party will also provide solar pumps to help farmers with irrigation along with a financial assistance for five years.
PNN