Bhubaneswar, Sept. 23 (UDN): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has appointed senior leader D Purandeswari as its new in-charge for Odisha, while Dr Swadesh Singh has been named co-in-charge as part of a major organisational reshuffle announced by the party on Wednesday.
The appointments, made by BJP national president Nitin Nabin, take effect immediately and are part of a wider restructuring of the party’s organisational responsibilities across 36 states and Union Territories.
Purandeswari, a senior BJP leader from Andhra Pradesh, will be responsible for overseeing the party’s organisational activities in Odisha. Singh will assist her in the state as co-in-charge.
The appointment marks Purandeswari’s return to the Odisha organisation. She had earlier been assigned charge of the state in 2020 and has been associated with the party’s organisational work in the region.
She and Singh will succeed Vijay Pal Singh Tomar and Sushree Lata Usendi, who previously held the respective positions.
Reshuffle Ahead of Local Body Elections
The organisational changes come at a significant time for Odisha, with panchayat and urban local body elections approaching. The new appointments are expected to bring a fresh organisational focus to the BJP’s preparations at the grassroots level.
The latest reshuffle extends beyond Odisha, with the BJP assigning new state responsibilities to several senior leaders as part of an effort to strengthen and streamline its organisational structure.
In Maharashtra, BJP national vice-president Baijayant Jay Panda has been appointed in-charge, with Amit Malviya, Sadanand Shet Tanavade and Kamaljeet Sehrawat named co-in-charges.
Vinod Tawde has been given charge of Uttar Pradesh, assisted by Jagdish Patel, Medha Kulkarni, Pradeep Verma and Anant Ojha.
Several leaders have also been assigned responsibility for multiple states. Sunil Bansal will oversee Telangana and West Bengal, while Ram Madhav has been given charge of Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand.
Harish Dwivedi will be responsible for Bihar and Karnataka, while Satish Poonia has been assigned Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.
The appointments form part of the BJP’s broader organisational exercise aimed at reallocating responsibilities among senior leaders and strengthening the party’s state-level machinery.
