Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was on Wednesday formally announced as the president of the State’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for the eighth time consecutively.
Notably, Patnaik was the lone candidate to file nomination for the post of BJD chief.
Party returning officer Pratap Keshari Deb announced the election of Patnaik along with 80 others elected as the BJD State executive members.
The results were announced after a State Council meeting held at the party headquarters here earlier in the day. The meeting was attended by 355 members of the party.
After being re-elected, Patnaik thanked the people of Odisha and said, “The BJD doesn’t fight elections to win or lose; it fights to win the love of the people of this State and serve them.”
With the election of BJD president and State Executive members, the five phases of the party’s organisational polls that had started in December last year came to an end.
Patnaik is the founder-president of BJD, which was formed after the death of Biju Patnaik in 1997. The party’s organisational elections are held every three years.