Bhubaneswar: Ahead of the general elections, the ruling BJD in Odisha on Wednesday constituted an ex-servicemen cell of the party and ensured joining of about 1,000 retired defence personnel.
"Many ex-servicemen have joined the Biju Janata Dal today. They will strengthen our party," said BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Hailing the BJD president`s approval to constitute the BJD ex-servicemen cell, retired Lt Gen Narayan Mohanty thanked the Chief Minister and said the services of ex-servicemen could be used during natural calamities, implementation of welfare schemes of the government at the village level and other events.
A delegation comprising Lt Gen (retd) Mohanty and Brigadier (retd) B P Patnaik had earlier submitted a proposal to Naveen requesting him to set up such a cell in the BJD.
They said there were more than 1.5 lakh ex-servicemen in the state and nearly 10 lakh people were dependent on them.
