Bhubaneswar: With the announcements of maximum candidates by three major parties BJD, BJP and Congress, the ticket aspirants, who are denied tickets by their party, are moving to other parties to test their electoral fortune.
Former president of BJD’s Jagatsinghpur district unit, Amarendra Das today joined BJP in the presence of State President Manmohan Samal and Odisha election in-charge Vijaypal Singh Tomar.
Shri Das, a hyperactive political personality along with his supporters took out a huge procession to the BJP office here and joined in the saffron camp.
Amarendra had resigned from the BJD yesterday and his resignation was seen as a protest against the party’s decision to give ticket to sitting MLA Prasanta Muduli for Jagatsingpur Assembly seat.
The party had managed to appease him by awarding the district president post during the 2019 polls. Later, he was dropped from the post with Shri Muduli taking charge and appointed as chairman of Cashew Development Corporation.
Similarly, former vice presidents of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC), Rajat Choudhury and Biswabhusan Das, have joined the BJP along with their supporters here today.
While Rajat had resigned from the Congress on March 1, Biswabhusan tendered his resignation earlier in the day. Rajat had earlier served as Pradesh Youth Congress president and was also the general secretary of the OPCC. He also played a crucial role at organisation level.
Biswabhusan had unsuccessfully contested the 2009 and 2019 elections from Kakatpur Assembly constituency on Congress ticket.
Congress leader and 2014 & 2019 MLA candidate from Hindol, Trinath Behera, has also quit the party and is likely to join BJP.
Meanwhile, former Deogarh MP and ex-MLA from Pallahara Rabi Narayan Pani has resigned from the BJP today. Alleging neglect within the party, Pani resigned from the BJP.
“Of late, I have understood that there is no place of ethics and principle in the present day of politics Any Tom, Dick, & Harry is being given all sort of power and responsibility by you people by overlooking senior and sincere people like us who are forced to sit idle like silent spectators,” he wrote in resignation letter to state BJP President Manmahon Samal.