Focus on winning ST reserved seats: Majhi

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday urged BJP workers to focus on winning all the 33 ST-reserved MLA and five Lok Sabha seats in the next elections.Majhi said this during a meeting organised here by the BJP’s ST Morcha to felicitate newly elected tribal MLAs and MPs of the party.

In the recent 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.

Speaking on this occasion, Majhi said, “On this day, we need to pledge towards winning all the 35 Assembly and five Lok Sabha seats in the coming elections so that the ST Morcha can take the lead of the party in Odisha.”

The Chief Minister reflected on his early days with the BJP and highlighted the efforts by both his government and the Modi administration to advance the welfare of tribals, including Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).

Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram advised senior BJP tribal leaders to adopt one constituency each where the party lost in the recent elections.He said the BJP government will definitely be a people’s government as “we are not a one-man show,” while indicating towards the previous BJD government which was allegedly functioning under the control of V K Pandian, a close aide of Naveen Patnaik.

He also emphasised the importance of prioritising elected public representatives like MLAs and MPs, which he claimed was overlooked by the previous BJD government.”Priority should be given to the party’s elected public representatives like MLAs and MPs, which did not happen during the previous BJD government. “As the Patnaik government was functioning under the directions of Pandian, they faced dire consequences and the BJP formed the government in Odisha,” he said.

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.”We have been fighting for implementation of the PESA Act in the State.

I want to assure you all that the law will be implemented in a year,” Naik said.

Naik assured that the Bill for PESA Act implementation would be presented in the upcoming Odisha Assembly session, after persistent advocacy for the law’s enactment.Naik urged SC and ST MLAs and MPs to concentrate on improving conditions for tribal and Dalit communities residing in remote and forest areas, acknowledging their established roles in society.