Apparently as a damage control move in the ruling party, BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday named Barchana MlA Amar Prasad Satpathy as the Government Chief Whip in the State Assembly.
Satpathy, a former Minister, was not included in the recently-reshuffled Ministry, as a result of which he along with two other Jajpur district MlA colleagues Devasis Nayak and Pramila Mallick, also former Ministers, had vent their resentment over neglect towards Jajpur for not including anyone from the district in the new Council of Ministers.
In another move, Naveen Patnaik dislodged party MP Baijayant Panda from the post spokesperson of the BJD Parliamentary Party. Panda has been sniping at the party high command through the media over the management of party affairs.
Another move is reportedly in the offing for removal of Ananta Narayan Jena from the post of Mayor of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) obviously in view of his alleged involvement in a sex scandal related to the murder of engineering student Rishi Mohanty of Bhubaneswar.