Latest news with #ManmohanSamal
Hindustan Times
26-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Amid reshuffle buzz, Odisha CM asks ministers to present their achievements
Bhubaneswar: Amid the buzz on cabinet reshuffle in Odisha ahead of the monsoon session of the State Assembly, chief minister Mohan Majhi has directed all ministers to furnish their achievements and social media presence till May-end. Odisha chief minister Mohan Majhi. (File Photo) State BJP chief Manmohan Samal, who arrived in Bhubaneswar on Saturday after meeting senior party leaders in Delhi, said a reshuffle in the state cabinet is likely within the next 15 to 30 days. 'The responsibility of cabinet expansion lies with the chief minister. The decision on who will be inducted into the cabinet and on what basis, will be taken by the BJP's Parliamentary Board,' said Samal. As Odisha can have a maximum of 22 ministers, six more ministers can be inducted. People aware of the matter said 15 ministers have been asked to give presentations before the CM through powerpoint slides summing up the performance and efficiency of their respective departments. 'The ministers have been asked to give their achievements between June 2024 and May 2025 and the targets for the ongoing financial year. All the achievements have to be given in quantitative and budgetary spending. Besides, they would have to detail difficulties and challenges faced for implementation of various government programmes and steps taken to alleviate those challenges in governance,' said the person aware of the matter. Apart from this the ministers have been asked to detail the internal mechanism of clearing routine files as well as those dealing with programme implementation and policy issues. They have been asked to give a clear timeline for preparation of Annual Action Plan as well as monitoring and evaluation mechanism within the department. One official said as CM Majhi is focussed more on grievance redressal, the ministers have been asked to give details of resolution of each department with clear marker on how many were resolved within 7 days, 8-21 days, 22 -45 days and after 45 days. 'The ministers have been asked to detail the number of grievances they have attended physically (apart from participating in CM's grievance meetings),' he said. In addition to this, they have been asked to submit any new initiatives and policy reforms initiated by their departments for effective governance as well as technology adoption and integration like digital tools, automation or using Al for efficiency,' the official said. During the review with the chief minister, the ministers concerned would also have to give details of their participation on social media platforms. 'Each minister would have to give the number of average monthly posts on X, Facebook and Instagram. Only those posts related to their department, government- mandated visits, national or state issues and shared posts of Prime Minister and chief minister would be taken into consideration. The individual or social event postings unrelated to government programmes would not be considered,' said the official.
News18
17-07-2025
- Politics
- News18
BJP Reappoints Manmohan Samal As Odisha Unit President; Here's Why
It was under Samal's leadership that the BJP registered unprecedented success in the last Lok Sabha and assembly elections held simultaneously In a party like the BJP, it is uncommon for leaders to be repeated in top organisational roles. However, during the ongoing organisational elections in Odisha, the Bharatiya Janata Party has made an exception by reappointing Manmohan Samal as the state president. His reappointment, though rare, has not surprised many, largely due to his strong performance and track record. It was under Samal's leadership that the BJP registered unprecedented success in the last Lok Sabha and assembly elections held simultaneously. The party not only wiped out the Biju Janata Dal from the Lok Sabha map of Odisha but also managed to end the long reign of Naveen Patnaik's government in the state, an outcome few had imagined possible. Insiders reveal that Samal played a key role in shaping the party's independent strategy. At a time when several central leaders believed that an alliance with the BJD was necessary for electoral gains in the eastern state, it was Samal who stood firm against any such tie-up. He consistently conveyed to the central leadership that the BJP was capable of securing a strong mandate on its own, and the results vindicated his position. His return also holds social significance. Odisha has a 50% OBC population, and Samal, himself from that community, provides crucial representation. This aligns with the party's strategy of nurturing leaders with strong local and social roots. This will be Samal's second consecutive term and his fourth overall as state president. His previous terms were November 1999-October 2000, October 2000-May 2004, and March 2023-July 2025. Hailing from the Bhadrak district, Samal has long-standing ties with the Sangh Parivar, starting with his involvement in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in 1979. He rose through the BJP ranks, became a Rajya Sabha member in 2000, contested the assembly elections in 2004, and even served as a minister in the BJP-BJD alliance government. The BJP's recent approach—seen in states like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana—has been to promote homegrown leaders with deep connections to the organisation or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), rather than inducting state presidents from other parties. With a new government in power and the need to further strengthen the BJP's base in Odisha, Samal's blend of organisational and governance experience makes him an ideal choice to lead the party in its newly established stronghold. First Published: July 08, 2025, 23:50 IST
India Today
09-07-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Deadlock in BJP? Why 7 key states still await elections for chiefs
The BJP, as of July 9, has completed organisational elections in 29 of its 36 state units (including the nomination of a working president in Punjab), achieving the requisite quorum for electing a new national July 7, the Odisha unit re-elected Manmohan Samal as president. Yet, in seven politically crucial states, including strongholds Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryana, the party has still not appointed new state chiefs. While the quorum for the national president's election is technically complete, the prolonged indecision in these remaining states reflects deeper factional tensions, leadership dilemmas and strategic uncertainty. The BJP constitution requires 50 per cent of the states to have elected representatives. The senior leadership wants unanimity in the matter and is also keen to complete the process in all states before the national president is party has announced the election process for unit presidents in all states except Punjab, Jharkhand, Delhi and Manipur. However, the election of district chiefs in Delhi and Jharkhand has been completed, and the process can be announced and the state presidents elected within a few days. For Punjab—where the quorum isn't in place—the party has announced a working minister Amit Shah is travelling to Ranchi on July 9-10 to take part in a meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council. He is also likely to meet the core group of the Jharkhand BJP. Meanwhile, party leaders have been in parleys with leaders in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat to iron out the glitches. In Karnataka, more than a year after the 2024 Lok Sabha poll setback and the May 2023 assembly election defeat, the BJP has yet to resolve its leadership tussle. The state unit is split between the Lingayat old guard, led by B.S. Yediyurappa, and his arch younger son and MLA B.Y. Vijayendra is the current state unit chief, and has the backing of the national leadership for re-election. However, BJP national general secretary B.L. Santhosh continues to rally his opponents. These include former chief minister and Lok Sabha MP Basavaraj Bommai, who, along with others, is reportedly insisting on anyone but Vijayendra for the lack of a clear post-Yediyurappa consensus, combined with worries about the upcoming Bengaluru municipal elections and the erosion of Lok Sabha seats, has paralysed decision-making. The party still has no credible alternative to Yediyurappa and his son to consolidate the powerful Lingayat vote base and build a broader caste leaders privately acknowledge that replacing Yediyurappa with Bommai in July 2021 had damaged the party's support base. With the next assembly elections due in 2028 and the ruling Congress seen as drifting into factionalism, the BJP leadership is keen to keep its house Gujarat, a state the party has ruled for the past three decades, the delay is less about procedural lapses and more about turf wars. C.R. Patil, though nearing the end of his extended tenure, continues to hold informal sway. The central leadership is caught between Patil's entrenched organisational grip, chief minister Bhupendra Patel's camp and local leaders jockeying for prominence. There's also an underlying caste calculation—balancing Patidar dominance with rising OBC aspirations, especially as the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have made modest Pradesh, the BJP's most important electoral base, is the most sensitive case. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath's growing stature and his tight control over both governance and messaging have made the central leadership cautious. Any new state president seen as too close to Adityanath risks upsetting power equations in state chief perceived as imposed from the top could provoke resistance in Lucknow. After the party's underwhelming Lok Sabha poll performance in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Ayodhya in 2024, the leadership has not yet found a consensus candidate who can both complement and counterbalance Adityanath. The post-poll introspection highlighted growing differences between the government and the organisation. The hard bargain over this balance is delaying the Haryana, the BJP continues to operate under the shadow of former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Though he has moved to the national stage, Khattar has left behind a fractured organisation. The central leadership has yet to decide whether to bank on Khattar's legacy or elevate leaders from other month, Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh flexed his muscles by hosting a dinner for 11 BJP MLAs and Congress legislator Manju Chaudhary at his daughter Aarti Rao's new residence in Chandigarh. Singh, a Congress turncoat, has a strong base in south Haryana and adjoining parts of Rajasthan, but his advancing age is a concern. Current state president Mohan Lal Badoli is both a close aide of chief minister Nayab Singh Saini and seen as part of the Khattar camp. The resulting deadlock has left the state unit rudderless at a critical Punjab, the BJP's organisational drift has deepened. The party is still without district-level presidents in several key areas, and state chief Sunil Jakhar—originally brought in for his Congressman gravitas—has become increasingly disengaged and now even seen as a liability by some quarters. Party insiders complain Jakhar has tried to run the BJP like the Congress without understanding the party's or the Sangh Parivar's sudden death of state in-charge Vijay Rupani in the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad in June further created a vacuum. On July 7, the BJP appointed party old-timer Ashwani Sharma as working president of the Punjab unit. He will now work with general secretary (organisation) Mantri Srinivas to accelerate the appointment of district-level Punjab unit lacks direction, with cadre demoralised cadre and no clear revival plan in a state where the party had once hoped to emerge as the main Opposition. All eyes are on Sharma to rebuild momentum before the assembly polls in Delhi, despite sweeping all seven Lok Sabha seats in 2024 and defeating AAP resoundingly in the assembly polls, the party has dithered over finalising a state president. District chiefs have been elected and the morale is high, but the leadership is weighing whether to continue with incumbent Virendra Sachdeva or bring in a more visible face to energise the cadre. With a 'triple engine' government—BJP at the Centre, in the state and in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi—the job of the next state unit chief becomes even more critical. While the BJP is on a strong wicket in the state, replacing Sachdeva too quickly may cause internal presents an ongoing caste conundrum. After a decent performance in the Lok Sabha and assembly polls, the BJP is struggling to strike the right caste balance. The party is torn between projecting a tribal leader to challenge the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) or consolidating its non-tribal base. Senior leader Babulal Marandi remains influential but is seen as past his peak. The delay reflects the party's broader indecision over the tribal-versus-OBC leadership debate—critical in the state's polarised political Manipur, political activity is effectively frozen. Ethnic tensions between Meitei and Kuki groups have made any organisational reshuffle unviable. Former chief minister N. Biren Singh faced opposition from within his own MLAs and has lost credibility among both communities. The state is under president's rule to restore normalcy. With law and order still fragile and the Centre treading carefully, the BJP is avoiding any visible changes that could further destabilise the to India Today Magazine- EndsMust Watch
Hans India
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Manmohan Samal Retains Leadership Of BJP's Odisha Unit For Second Consecutive Term
The Bharatiya Janata Party has confirmed Manmohan Samal's continuation as the president of its Odisha state unit, marking his second consecutive term in the leadership position. The announcement was made on Tuesday at the party's state headquarters in Bhubaneswar. Central election observer Sanjay Jaiswal declared Samal's reappointment in the presence of senior party leaders, confirming that he was the only candidate to submit nomination papers for the position. Given the absence of any competing nominations, Samal was elected unopposed to continue his leadership role. This appointment represents Samal's fourth overall term as the state unit president, demonstrating the party's continued confidence in his leadership capabilities. His previous tenures spanned from November 1999 to October 2000, October 2000 to May 2004, and most recently from March 2023 to July 2025. The 66-year-old leader, born on April 15, 1959, in Bhadrak district, brings significant experience to his renewed role. His background as a member of the Other Backward Classes community holds particular political significance, as OBC populations represent more than half of Odisha's demographic composition. Samal's reappointment comes at a crucial time for the BJP in Odisha, where the party has been working to expand its influence in a state traditionally dominated by regional parties. His leadership will be instrumental in guiding the party's strategic direction and organizational development in the state. The unopposed nature of his selection suggests internal party unity and satisfaction with his previous performance as state president. This continuity in leadership is expected to provide stability for the party's operations and long-term planning in Odisha. With his extensive experience spanning multiple terms over more than two decades, Samal's leadership brings institutional knowledge and established relationships within the party structure. His reappointment signals the BJP's commitment to maintaining experienced leadership while pursuing its political objectives in the eastern state.
Time of India
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
BJP reappoints Manmohan Samal as its Odisha unit president
The ruling BJP on Tuesday reappointed Manmohan Samal as its Odisha unit president. Samal's reappointment to the post was announced by the BJP's central election observer Sanjay Jaiswal in the presence of senior leaders at the party's state headquarters. He was the lone leader to file the nomination for the post and, therefore, elected unopposed, Jaiswal said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Join new Free to Play WWII MMO War Thunder War Thunder Play Now Undo This will be Samal's second consecutive term and fourth term in all. His earlier three terms were from November 1999 to October 2000, October 2000 to May 2004, and March 2023 to July 2025. Born on April 15, 1959, in Bhadrak district, Samal belongs to the OBC community, which constitutes more than 50 per cent of the state's population.
