Pradhan, CAG Murmu among top contenders for CM post

BHUBANESWAR: In their search for a suitable candidate as chief minister, top party sources said the BJP is looking for someone who can match the stature and influence of veteran Naveen Patnaik, who governed Odisha for close to two-and-half decades.
BJP is likely to announce its chief ministerial candidate for Odisha within two days and the CM may take oath on June 10, sources said.
"As already announced by the Prime Minister earlier, the CM will take oath on June 10. The CM will be someone as promised, a native and young Odia," state BJP president Manmohan Samal said Wednesday.
Several names have emerged as potential contenders for the position, before the party's Parliamentary Board decides the chief ministerial candidate by Thursday or Friday. Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, four-time MLA Mohan Majhi, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Girish Murmu are the contenders. Samal himself was a contender but after he lost the assembly election from Chandabali, he may not be a contender.
Dharmendra Pradhan emerged as a top contender for BJP's CM pick in Odisha, given his instrumental role in the party's strategy over the past three elections. Under his guidance, the BJP's LS seats in the state increased from one to 20. Pradhan is credited with crafting the BJP's state manifesto and emphasizing Odia Asmita as a key poll theme, factors that are believed to have contributed to the party's strong performance.
As an OBC leader, he also aligns with the caste dynamics in a state where more than 50% of the population belongs to OBCs. The factor that may come in his way to be CM is that BJP might contemplate utilizing Pradhan's skills at the central level.
Naveen resigns as CM, BJD searches for reasons behind loss
For over two decades, Odisha was synonymous with Naveen Patnaik. On Wednesday, he submitted his resignation to governor Raghubar Das, pulling the curtain down on 24 years of uninterrupted stint as chief minister and setting in motion a search for answers to BJD's debacle at the hustings.
Political analysts and sources within the party have identified several key factors that contributed to the BJD's defeat. They highlighted significant errors in candidate selection, not involving party seniors in the decision-making process and over-reliance on V K Pandian as major reasons for BJD's debacle.
While Naveen went to Raj Bhavan, Pandian was conspicuous by his absence. Till the other day, Pandian would accompany Naveen nearly everywhere.
"I am deeply grateful to the four and a half crore people of Odisha for giving me the opportunity to serve continuously. ...I will remain firmly committed to serving the people of Odisha," Naveen shared in his social media handle after submitting his resignation.
Later, meeting party MLAs at his residence, Naveen said they have nothing to be ashamed of about the govt's performance in all these years. "When I became CM for the first time, 70% people of Odisha were below the poverty line. Now, only 10% people are below it. Our efforts in agriculture and irrigation sectors, and women empowerment have led to this achievement," Naveen said. "We have served the people of Odisha. We will continue serving them," Naveen said.
Another 141 days, and Naveen would have eclipsed Sikkim's Pawan Kumar Chamling as India's longest serving chief minister. For now, he will continue as caretaker CM till a new govt is sworn in. "Shri Naveen Patnaik has resigned from the post of Chief Minister today after meeting the Hon'ble Governor at Raj Bhavan. He has accepted his resignation and requested him to remain in charge as the caretaker Chief Minister until the new government is sworn in," the governor's house posted on X.
As BJD looks for reasons behind its poor performance - failing to open an account in Lok Sabha and winning only 51 of the 147 assembly seats - a senior BJD leader said party leaders, who had ears to the ground, were side-lined in candidate selection unlike in the past, when district observers had a key role to play. "Leaders who deserted rival parties were preferably given tickets at the last moment, which demoralised cadres," the senior leader said.
A BJD MLA said the party became overdependent on Pandian, who was the only star campaigner other than Naveen to campaign across the state. "While he was proved efficient as a backroom strategist, Pandian figuring in BJD posters and his portrayal as the second-most important leader in the BJD became counterproductive," the MLA pointed out.
BJD leaders said it was also a wrong decision to field party's organisational general secretary Pranab Prakash Das from Sambalpur. Shifting Das to Sambalpur, where he was up against BJP heavyweight Dharmendra Pradhan, tied him down there and he could not devote much time for other places.
A BJD leader, however, said one must not forget that the party has managed to get 40.22% vote share, marginally better than BJP's 40.07% in the assembly, though the same did not translate into seats. In Lok Sabha, BJP got 45.34% votes while BJD got 37.53%, but returned empty-handed as far as seats are concerned. For the record, though, BJD MLA Arun Sahoo said, "The reasons for defeat will be known after these are reviewed. For the time being, our leader Naveen Patnaik has advised us to keep serving the people of Odisha." R K Satapathy, a former political science professor, said, "The BJP successfully focused its campaign on the premises that BJD was in the hands of a Tamilian (Pandian). This was a big factor apart from anti-incumbency against Naveen."