Bhubaneswar: Leader of Opposition in Odisha assembly, Naveen Patnaik, on Thursday filed his nomination papers for the post of BJD president for the ninth time here.

The former chief minister was the sole candidate for the post, said BJD's returning officer for the organisational elections, Pratap K Deb. Patnaik has been elected BJD president eight times in a row since the party's inception in 1997.

He was last elected to the post in February 2020. He filed his nomination papers on the 28th death anniversary of his father Biju Patnaik, after whom the regional party, the Biju Janata Dal, is named.