Bhubaneswar, Sep 4 (IANS) The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Naveen Patnaik on Thursday appointed senior leader and former minister Snehangini Chhuria as the president of the party’s women’s wing.

“Smt. Snehangini Chhuria is hereby appointed as President, Biju Mahila Janata Dal (BMJD) with immediate effect,” according to an office order signed by the BJD president.

Chhuria, a two-time MLA from Attabira Assembly constituency in Bargarh district, also served as minister in the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government.

Patnaik on Thursday also appointed several other prominent women leaders as senior general secretary and general secretaries of the party (women’s affairs). Senior leaders, Sumitra Jena, Rajashree Mallick and Lekhasri Samantsinghar have been appointed as Senior General Secretaries (women’s affairs).

On the other hand, Shreemayee Mishra, Barsha Singh Bariha, Sulata Deo, Sulochana Das, Sarmistha Sethi, etc, as the general secretaries (women affairs).

The BJD supremo Patnaik on Thursday expanded the list of district presidents, announcing the names of three more district presidents.

With this appointment, the party announced the names of party presidents in total to 31 out of the 33 organisational districts of the state.

The party had earlier named 28 district presidents. With Khurda and Balasore still unassigned, the upcoming announcements are being closely watched by political analysts.

Patnaik also recently announced new appointments for the party’s student and youth wings. Ipsita Sahu has been named the new President of Biju Chhatra Janata Dal (BCJD), the student wing of the party, with immediate effect.

In a similar move, Chinmaya Sahu has been appointed to lead the Biju Yuba Janata Dal (BYJD), the party’s youth wing.

Similarly, senior leader Debesh Acharya has been appointed as the Senior General Secretary BCJD (Student Affairs). Meanwhile, the BJD president appointed Debi Ranjan Tripathy, Subhasis Khuntia, and Souvic Biswal as General Secretaries of BCJD (student affairs).

Patnaik also appointed Byomakesh Ray as the Senior General Secretary (Youth Affairs), while Rajendra Kumar Sahoo, Amaresh Patri, and Sanjit Mohanty have been appointed as General Secretaries (Youth Affairs) of BYJD.

–IANS

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