Bhubaneswar: The Governing Biju Janata Dal (BJD) today appointed former Union Minister and Berhampur MP Chandra Shekhar Sahu as the Chairman of the party’s Manifesto Committee for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the State.
Party High Command has elevated Shri Sahu to the rank of Vice President and given this crucial responsibility for the election. This also indicates that the BJD is not keen to re-nominate Shri Sahu for Berhampur Lok Sabha set against BJP’s candidate Pradeep Panigrahy. Even now, the BJD is searching for a strong candidate against its former leader Shri Panigrahy for the MP seat.
In the meantime, senior BJP leader and BJP’s MP candidate for Berhampur segment in 2019, Bhrugu Buxipatra resigned from the party. The resignation of Shri Baxipatra fuels discussions in political circles that the BJD may nominate him for the Berhampur LS seat.
Bhrugu had garnered an impressive 3.49 lakh votes from Berhampur in 2019 but lost to Shri Sahu by a margin of around 94,000 votes.
“With a heavy heart, I am tendering my resignation from the primary membership of the BJP,” Bhrugu wrote in his resignation letter to State BJP Chief Manmohan Samal.
“As a member for 23 years, I have put my best efforts for the growth of the Party in the state. I have executed every single responsibility that I was assigned, with utter sincerity and diligence. I am grateful to the party for using my services to strengthen its organizational and political base in the state. However, lately, I have realized that the party does not require me or my contribution anymore,” he said.
Therefore, he decided to move on. The outgoing BJP leader said he will continue to serve the people of Odisha and work towards the development of the State.