K V Singdeo new Odisha BJP Chief

The national leadership of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has chosen leader of BJP legislature party, Kanak Vardhan Singhdeo as the president of its Odisha unit.

He will replace former Union minister, Juel Oram, who completed his term in the post three months ago.

Ever since Oram's term expired in December, 2012, speculations were rife about who will succeed him as the BJP state unit with 3 to 4 senior leaders of the party engaged in hectic lobbying at the BJP headquarters in Delhi through their supporters to grab the post, which has become crucial with the state scheduled to go for election early next year.

The order of the appointment of new state unit chief came this afternoon by fax message from the office of Rajnath Singh, the current national president of the party.

Singhdeo, a former minister and four-time MLA from Patnagarh in Bolangir district, will lead the saffron party in 2014 polls.

The Odisha BJP is still trying hard to make its presence felt in several parts of the state since 2009, when Biju Janata Dal (BJD) decided to snap ties with it few days ahead of the polls.

Factionalism and lack of strong leadership have affected the performance of the party in several urban and local body elections and assembly by-polls recently.

Few months back, Singhdeo, frustrated with the manner in which the party unit was being run in the state, had tendered his resignation as the leader of BJP legislative party in the assembly citing clash of opinions with the state leadership. He, however, later withdrew resignation on the request of the party's national leadership.

His appointment as the president of the BJP state unit is likely to instill fresh enthusiasm among the workers, sources said.