Bhubaneswar, Jan. 13: Basanta Kumar Panda, the second time MLA from the Nuapada Assembly seat, would take over as the president of the BJP's state unit, party sources indicated today.

The party's election committee will receive nomination papers from the aspiring candidates tomorrow, and the elections will be held on Friday. The BJP legislature party leader would take over from K.V. Singh Deo's office.

Though sources maintained that there had been a broad consensus on the candidature of Panda, murmurs of protests had been raised by various sections of the party.

Sources said the party's vice-president Pratap Chandra Sarangi felt aggrieved as the leadership, in 2013, had promised him the top post when he contested and became the vice-president under the leadership of Singh Deo. "If the party asks me to become the president, I have no objection. But as of now, there is no such talk," he told The Telegraph.

Another section is said to have pointed out that some of the core committee members such as tribal affairs minister Jual Oram and veteran leader Bijoy Mohapatra were not in the city and had not been consulted.

What has weighed in favour of the saffron-clad 55-year-old Panda is that he hails from west Odisha, where the BJP has a strong presence. Of the 10 MLAs from the party in the 147-member Assembly, eight belonged to the western region. Besides, the schoolteacher-turned-political activist had come to the mainstream politics from the Sangh Parivar.

Panda shot into limelight during the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation in the late 80s, when he was in the forefront campaigning for the temple. He had also served as a functionary of the Viswa Hindu Parishad in the early 90s and became an MLA in 2000. In 1995, he had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly polls. A firebrand orator, Panda is said to be popular among the younger generation. He had been the party unit's vice-president twice and once held the general secretary's post.

If Panda is entrusted with the task of the party organisation, the leadership will have to select a new legislature party leader in view of the party's one-man-and-one-post norm. Panda said he was not in the race. "The BJP believes in consensus. I will abide by whatever the party decides," he said.Usually, the party avoids contests and elects its leader through consensus. Only in 1997, there was a contest between Oram and Biswa Bhusan Harichandan, in which the former had won.

"Nothing is final. The decision may change," said a senior leader of the party, citing the instance of last time's national president election during which Nitin Gadkari's name was dropped at the last moment.

The state's returning officer Rajkishore Das said: "Candidates will file nomination papers between 9.30am and 10.30am, and candidates can withdraw their nomination papers by 2pm."

The state's electoral college for the party presidentship consists of 157 state council members from 30 organisational districts, state executive members, 10 party MLAs and the lone MP from Sundargarh. Apart from electing the president, the college will also send 21 members to the BJP's national council.

BJP general secretary Saroj Pandey and state in-charge Arun Singh are camping in the city to oversee the party elections.