BJP's Dharmendra Pradhan: A new 'pradhan' in Odisha soon?

During one of his poll rallies in Odisha, Union home minister Amit Shah credited his cabinet colleague Dharmendra Pradhan for leading the team that formed the manifesto for the Odisha assembly elections this time. A few days later, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh indicated a bigger role for Pradhan.

With BJP securing majority to form its first govt in Odisha, Union education minister Pradhan has emerged as the top contender for the CM's job.

Pradhan, 54, a postgraduate from Utkal University, has been a key lieutenant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah in the past decade and is BJP's most prominent face in the eastern coastal state.

The manifesto that Shah credited Pradhan with, is one of the key factors that swung the result BJP's way, with its promise of buying paddy at Rs 3,100 per quintal, cash voucher of Rs 50,000 to women under Subhadra Yojana and fight for Odia asmita.

And, it's not just the manifesto. Pradhan joined forces with Modi and Shah to highlight two other issues that provided ammunition in BJP's fight - attack on IAS-turned-politician VK Pandian as an outsider and the emotive issue of "missing keys" to sacred Ratna Bhandar (treasure trove) at the Puri Jagannath Temple.

Like in 2019, he played the lead role in managing BJP's poll strategy this time too, including overseeing day-to-day affairs in the run-up to polls, apart from drawing up the manifesto.


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