Bhubaneswar: After the defeat of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Assembly elections, two retired IAS officers Suresh Chandra Mahapatra and R Balakrishnan resigned as chief advisors in Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
While Mahapatra was posted as Chief Advisor to CMO, Balakrishnan was Chief Advisor for Special Initiatives. The resignations of the two key bureaucrats came to the light after the General Administration and Public Grievance Department issued office orders dated June 5 regarding the acceptance of the resignations.
After the election results were declared on June 4, party president Naveen Patnaik submitted his resignation as Chief Minister to Governor Raghubar Das and as per the norms. The Governor requested Patnaik to remain in charge as the care-taker Chief Minister until the new government is sworn-in.
It may be noted here that BJD faced defeat at the hands of BJP as the saffron party stormed into power in Odisha by winning 78 seats in the 147-member state Assembly. BJD was able to secure 51 seats while the Congress won 14 seats.