GUWAHATI: BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda has been appointed as Assam’s new in-charge — a post that was vacant for over a year after senior party leader from Uttar Pradesh, Mahendra Singh, was inducted in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet.
Besides Panda, senior BJP leader Pawan Sharma has been appointed as seh-prabhari (co-incharge) for Assam BJP. Panda has also been named as the prabhari for Delhi BJP.
The saffron camp saw a host of changes in its leadership roles with BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra being made the state in-charge of Manipur. In Tripura, Vinod Sonkar has been appointed as the chief, while M Chuba Ao has been given the charge of Meghalaya. Senior party leader Nalin Kohli will be taking care of Nagaland and Mmhonlumo Kikon of Mizoram. Party national general secretary Dilip Saikia, who is from Assam, is the new prabhari of Arunachal Pradesh and Jharkhand.
Expectations are high from Panda, who will have to play a key role in finalizing the party’s strategy and alliances. “Alliances are expected to be sealed around the new year. The poll strategy, however, will be chalked out in and around December. The appointment of the new in-charge has infused enthusiasm among party workers,” a senior office-bearer of Assam BJP told
TOI
on Saturday.
Welcoming Panda and Sharma to Assam, party state president Ranjeet Kumar Dass said, “Only 143 days are left for the upcoming assembly polls. We, together, will ensure the party’s victory.”
North East Democratic Alliance convener Himanta Biswa Sarma, too, said party workers were looking forward to working closely with Panda. “Congratulations to Shri @PandaJay ji and Shri Pawan Sharma ji on being given the role of @BJP4India Prabhari & Seh-Prabhari for Assam. Your appointments will greatly enthuse the karyakartas in the state,” chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal tweeted.
Panda, a four-time MP, is also the spokesperson of BJP. He was elected to his second term (2014-2019) in the Lok Sabha from Kendrapada constituency in Odisha. He has graduated from the Michigan Technological University and worked in the corporate sector and has a background in engineering and management.