By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: The former Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Mahanta , who resigned from the Upper House and as well as from BJD, if joined BJP, is likely to be made as Chairperson of North Odisha Development Council, a task force for which, was recently formed by the Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.
Mahanta, sources said after tendering her resignation, reportedly talked to CM Majhi and other senior BJP leaders in Odisha. She is likely to join BJP soon.
Following the resignation of Mohanta from RS, the BJD strength in the Upper House went down to 8. With 21 months left to her six-year tenure, BJP is likely to send someone from Odisha in her place.
State President Manmohan Samal is front runner for Rajya Sabha along with former Union Minister Dilip Ray. Both Samal and Ray lost the recently concluded Assembly polls from Chandabali and Rourkela MLA seats respectively.
Initially, Manmohan Samal’s name was being considered for the post of Deputy Chairman State Planning Board while in the current political situation, the BJP State President is a front runner for Upper House.
It may be noted here that the taskforce will operate under chairmanship of housing and urban development minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra. The taskforce consists of eight members, including higher education minister Suryabanshi Suraj, govt deputy chief whip Govind Chandra Das, Balasore MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Keonjhar MP Ananta Nayak, Karanjia MLA Padma Charan Haiburu, Champua MLA Sanatan Mahakud, Telkoi MLA Fakir Mohan Nayak, and Basudevpur MLA Ashok Kumar Das
