Soumya Ranjan Patnaik on Monday stepped down from the post of the editor of Sambad, the largest circulated vernacular daily of Odisha.

He has named his daughter Tanaya as the new editor of Sambad. Tanaya was the executive editor of the paper.

Soumya, son-in-law of former chief minister JB Patnaik, did not cite any reason for stepping down from his post. He also resigned as chairman of Eastern Media Limited, the holding company that runs Sambad, Kanak TV and Radio Chocolate.

Soumya has stepped down as editor at a time when Sambad is going to celebrate its 40 years of publication on Wednesday.

Soumya, the MLA from Khandapara in Nayagarh district, was in the news for taking a public stance against the chief minister’s office (CMO) and consistently targeting V.K. Pandian, the private secretary to chief minister Naveen Patnaik.