Bhubaneswar, Jun 6 (IANS): Following the humiliating defeat of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the Assembly elections in Odisha, senior party leader and former minister Shashi Bhusan Behera on Thursday raised questions over the election management by the party, calling the sidelining of senior leaders as one of the main reasons behind the poll debacle.

Speaking to mediapersons here, Behera said the election results took everyone by surprise.

“There were some faults and lapses in the management of elections which the party might examine. However, it is apparent that keeping the senior BJD leaders at bay in the whole election process was one of the major reasons behind the party’s defeat. The people refused to accept the sidelining of the senior leaders," Behera said.

Meanwhile, BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik on Thursday held a meeting at his residence with the leaders who faced defeat in their respective constituencies in the recently-held Assembly polls.

Senior leader Prafulla Samal, who lost to BJP’s Sitansu Sekhar Mohapatra in Bhadrak, said the BJD will be strengthened further under the leadership of Patnaik, who will personally look into the party organisation in every district.

Patnaik had held a similar meeting with the 50 BJD MLAs who won the elections at his residence on Wednesday evening.

Answering a query on Patnaik’s close aide and former bureaucrat V.K. Pandian, the ex-Chief Minister clarified that the former can work without anyone's assistance.