With the Cooperative Election Commissioner announcing Jaunary 18 and 25 as dates for the cooperative polls in Odisha, ruling BJD today asked its leaders to prepare for the exercise.
"Work with dedication and commitment and ensure a vibrant and effective cooperative network in the state," BJD President and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told a party workshop here.
The BJD workshop was attended among others by ministers, MLAs and cooperative functionaries who were informed about the new cooperative laws.
Earlier, BJD had announced a 12-member state-level coordination committee to oversee the elections on behalf of the party. The committee is headed by senior BJD leader and Athagarh MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain.
Other members of the committee are Nagendra Pradhan, Prafulla Samal, Jiban Pradip Das, Bhagirathi Badajena, Rajanikant Singh, Balabhadra Majhi, Debesh Acharya, Rabinarayan Nanda, Sesha Kumar Meher, Umesh Swain, Alekh Choudhury and Girish Das.
Cooperative Election Commissioner Krushna Gopal Mohapatra had issued the notification on October 29 for holding of elections to cooperative societies in the state on January 18 and 25 next year. Elections will be held for 9,733 primary cooperative societies in the state.
Cooperative elections were last held seven years back in 2007.
