Bhubaneswar: Two days after the out-of-the-blue defeat of Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal in the recently concluded Assembly elections in the state, Principal Secretary of Electronics and IT Department in Odisha government Manoj Kumar Mishra resigned from his position, an office order regarding the acceptance of his resignation by the Governor informed Thursday.
In January 2023, Naveen Patnaik-led state government appointed Mishra as the IT Secretary a day after the Centre accepted Mishra’s resignation from Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS).
Mishra is considered to be a close ally of Naveen’s aide VK Pandian.
Earlier Thursday, two retired IAS officers Suresh Chandra Mahapatra and R Balakrishnan also resigned as Chief Advisors to Chief Minister’s Office and Special Initiatives.
Following the announcement of election results June 4, Naveen Patnaik submitted his resignation as Chief Minister of Odisha to Governor Raghubar Das. As per the norms, the Governor requested Patnaik to remain in charge as the caretaker Chief Minister until a new government is sworn in.
It can be mentioned here that, the Biju Janata Dal faced a shocking defeat at the hands of the BJP as the saffron party rose to power in Odisha by winning 78 Assembly seats which comfortably surpasses the magic number of 74 in a 147-member Assembly.
The BJD was able to secure 51 Assembly seats while the Congress won 14 seats.
PNN
