Bhubaneswar: With the declaration of candidates for the simultaneous elections to the State Assembly and Lok Sabha, many leaders of BJD including two MLAs resigned from the ruling party.
Sitting MLA from Soro Assembly seat Parshuram Dhada, BJD Athamallik MLA Ramesh Chandra Sai, former Deputy Speaker Rama Chandra Panda, former Phulbani MLA Debendra Kanhar and few other ticket hopers have resigned from the primary membership of the BJD in a single day.
These leaders sent their resignations to party President and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik after being denied party tickets to contest the upcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the State.
Senior BJD leader and Soro MLA Shri Dhada, Athamallik MLA Ramesh Chandra Sai along with former Phulbani MLA Debendra Kanhar, also resigned from the party when they were denied party tickets by BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik, who released the candidate lists for 27 Assembly seats on Wednesday in the second phase.
Besides, the party heavyweight and a ticket aspirant from the Bhadrak constituency Asit Patnaik has also quit the ruling party.
This time, the BJD has fielded Madhav Dhada to replace sitting MLA Parshuram Dhada and former Engineer-in-Chief Nalini Shri Pradhan for Athagarha Assembly seat replacing Shri Sai.
Shri Panda, who was also holding the post of Advisor to the Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment Department, had resigned earlier after the Model Code of Conduct came into force.
“I was a ticket aspirant for Berhampur Lok Sabha seat in 2019 but the party fielded Chandrashekar Sahu who joined the BJD after leaving congress party. Though I have been keen to contest the Lok Sabha polls, I was again denied a ticket this time despite serving the party over the years. The party has only given assurances to me every time,” Panda told reporters in Berhampur.
The former Deputy Speaker, who joined the BJD in 2017 after quitting the BJP, alleged that the BJD lacks internal democracy and has deviated from its ideology on which the regional party was formed after the demise of the legendary leader and former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik.
The aspirants are either jumping to other parties or announcing to contest as independent candidates in their respective constituencies. Similarly, many aspirants along with their supporters have been protesting at the party headquarters demanding reconsideration over the decision.
Speaking to media persons, senior BJD leader Padmanav Behera said, “There have always been rebels in politics. This time the number of rebels is a bit more in number.” He said that BJD has the expertise in winning elections by successfully dealing with such rebellions.
Similarly, the BJP has been witnessing severe protests by some leaders who are denied tickets this time.
Ex-MLA and senior leader Debaraj Mohanty has resigned from the party after being denied ticket to contest elections from the Aska constituency in Ganjam district. BJP leader Sonali Sahu quit the party following her displeasure over ticket allotment. Soon, she joined back in Congress.
Many senior leaders from Congress including sitting MLA have resigned from the party and many of them have joined the BJD. The leaders included sitting MLA Adhiraj Panigrahi, ex-MLA Chiranjib Biswal, ex-minister Ganeswar Behera, ex-MP Surendra Singh Bhoi.
