Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday appealed to BJP workers to focus on winning all ST-reserved MLA seats and Lok Sabha seats in the upcoming assembly elections.
He made this appeal during a felicitation ceremony organised by the BJP’s ST Morcha to felicitate newly elected tribal MLAs and MPs at Jaydev Bhawan, Bhubaneswar.
Majhi emphasised the need to pledge towards winning all 35 Vidhan Sabha and five Lok Sabha seats in the coming elections, enabling the ST Morcha to take the lead in Odisha.
In the 2024 elections, the BJP secured 18 of the 33 ST-reserved MLA seats and four of the five Lok Sabha seats reserved for tribals in Odisha.
Meanwhile, the Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram advised senior BJP tribal leaders to adopt one constituency each where the party lost in the recent elections.
Whereas, the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Minister Rabi Narayan Naik announced plans to implement the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA Act) in Odisha.
He assured that the Bill for PESA Act implementation would be presented in the upcoming Odisha Assembly session, following persistent advocacy for the law’s enactment.
Naik urged SC and ST MLAs and MPs to focus on improving conditions for tribal and Dalit communities residing in remote and forest areas, acknowledging their established roles in society.