Bhubaneswar: Biju Janata Dal, the Numero Uno party in Odisha for more than two decades, will hold its extended Executive Body Meeting here today.
The meeting is going to be held at the IDCOL Auditorium in Bhubaneswar and will be attended by all the Executive Body Members, Parliamentarians and the Legislators of the party who will discuss on various issues relating to the party and the State.
The meeting is expected to authorize party president Naveen Patnaik to go ahead with the membership drive, a precursor to the organizational elections to be held in the month of November.
The membership drive will commence from 2nd September and the party expects to double its membership strength from the present 47 lakhs.
The party leaders have been instructed to accelerate the speed of membership and bring a majority of the people to its fold. The popularity of the party is gaining day by day and the target to double the numbers is not a difficult one.
The Party President has also constituted a State level committee to monitor and coordinate the membership drive comprising senior leaders Prasanna Acharya, Debi Prasad Mishra, Pramila Mallick, Sanjay Kumar Dasburma, Pratap Keshari Deb, Pradeep Panigrahi and Pranab Prakash Das.
According to party leaders, the drive will be intensified at the grassroots level to include the common man and also at the Block and District levels. According to the BJD Party Constitution, the organizational elections are held every three years.
The Executive Body Meeting assumes significance as the Party President and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is expected to outline the party’s development agenda for the state and its people.
The Chief Minister has come out with a number of initiatives in the last few months such as the 5-T Mantra and the ‘Mo Sarkar’ which aim to bring governance closer to the people. Also, the Extended Executive Body Meeting assumes significance as the urban local body elections in the state are due in the coming days.
The party is also going to fight for the Bijepur assembly seat that the Chief Minister vacated after retaining the Hinjili seat.