Biju Janata Dal leader and MP Baijayant Jay Panda on Saturday said he would accept his party president and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s decision to remove him as party spokesperson if it would do the party good. If my being removed from the post of spokesperson is good for the party, then I respect it,” Panda told ANI. I don’t know what is the reason for my removal as spokesperson, but if its my party president’s decision then I respect it,” he added. Of the 846 Zilla Parishad seats, the BJD won 473 seats – down by 190 from the previous tally – and the BJP won 297. In 2012, the BJP won just 36 of the total 854 zilla parishad seats.

Source: Hindustan Times May 13, 2017 14:58 UTC