Bhubaneswar: Senior BJP leader Manmohan Samal has been declared as the Odisha State President of the party for the fourth consecutive term. He retained the post unopposed, as no other candidate filed nomination papers for the position.
Sanjay Jaiswal, the election observer, officially declared Samal’s election as the Odisha BJP President.
With his re-election, Samal is expected to further strengthen the party’s organisational structure in Odisha and build on the party’s recent electoral successes.
On Monday, Samal officially filed his nomination for the post of Odisha State President of the party at the BJP state headquarters in Bhubaneswar in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, central observers, and senior party functionaries.
The declaration of Samal’s presidency reflects the strong backing and widespread confidence he enjoys within the party.
A Leader of Stature
Born on April 15, 1959, in Bhadrak district, Samal is a seasoned politician with deep roots in Odisha’s political landscape. An alumnus of Bhadrak College, he was first elected as student union president in 1979 and became actively involved with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) before rising through the BJP’s ranks.
He has served multiple terms as the BJP Odisha State President, having earlier held key portfolios including Revenue Minister and Minister of Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare in the Odisha government. In 2004, he was elected as an MLA from Dhamnagar constituency.
In the 2024 Odisha Assembly Elections, Samal’s leadership was widely credited with the BJP’s historic victory, which ended the Biju Janata Dal’s 24-year rule in the state. His strategic grassroots mobilisation, coupled with effective messaging and organisational expansion, was instrumental in enabling the BJP to form a government in Odisha for the first time.
