Odisha BJP to re-elect Manmohan Samal as state president

Bhubaneswar: Manmohan Samal is set to be re-elected as Odisha BJP president as he was the lone person to file a nomination paper for the post Monday.

Samal, the incumbent state party president, filed the nomination paper for the post before Odisha BJP Election Officer and MP Pratap Sarangi in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, party’s central observer Sanjay Jaiswal and other senior leaders.

He was the lone leader to file nomination papers for the Odisha BJP president’s post, the process of which was completed at 3.30 pm.

Apart from Samal, many other leaders also filed their nomination papers for the post of BJP National Council Member.

Party sources said that Samal, a former minister in the BJD-BJP alliance government, will be declared elected unopposed Tuesday.

Samal is likely to be rewarded for his contribution to the party which under his leadership defeated the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) headed by Naveen Patnaik in the Odisha Assembly elections in 2024.

Samal was given charge of the party president on an adhoc basis in 2023 barely a year ahead of the general elections.

The BJP in Odisha under Samal’s leadership won 20 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state and secured an absolute majority in the state Assembly to form government in the state.

The BJP won 78 seats in the 147-member Odisha Assembly while Naveen Patnaik’s BJD secured 51 seats followed by Congress 14 seats, Independents 3, and CPI(M) 1.

However, Samal himself lost the Assembly election from the Chandabali constituency in Bhadrak district.

Samal was earlier Odisha BJP president for three terms from November 1999 to October 2000, October 2000 to May 2004, and March 2023 to July 2025.

PTI

News