Bhubaneswar, April 23 (IANS): Former MLA and senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Raseswari Panigrahi resigned from the primary membership of the party on Tuesday in protest against the BJD's decision to field an 'outsider' from the Sambalpur Assembly seat.
In another jolt to the party, sitting BJD MLA from the Hindol Assembly segment in the Dhenkanal Lok Sabha constituency, Simarani Nayak, also resigned from the primary membership of the party after Dhenkanal MP Mahesh Sahoo was named the BJD candidate from Hindol in place of Nayak.
“I hereby resign from the primary membership of the Biju Janata Dal and all post(s) of the party assigned to me,” wrote Panigrahi in her resignation letter sent to party President and Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik.
Speaking to mediapersons, Panigrahi said the pride of Sambalpur prompted her decision to quit the party.
Slamming the BJD's decision to field Rohit Pujari from Sambalpur, Panigrahi said, "The party has given the ticket to a person whom they had earlier sacked, terming him as 'incompetent'. Are there no leaders in Sambalpur that an outsider has been given the ticket to contest the seat?"
The senior politician also said that she will continue to engage in social work through her trust, asserting that she will not get into any political activity for now.
Panigrahi’s resignation may prove costly for the ruling party in Sambalpur given her strong support base in the constituency. She was elected to the state Assembly from Sambalpur on a BJD ticket in 2014, before losing to BJP's Jayanarayan Mishra in 2019.
Meanwhile, commenting on her decision to quit the party, Simarani Nayak said: “Thanks for giving me the opportunity to serve the people of Hindol. I have tried my best to serve the people for the last 10 years. However, due to some personal issues, I hereby resign from the primary membership of the BJD."
Assembly and Lok Sabha elections will be held simultaneously in Odisha in four phases from May 13 to June 1. While results for the Assembly polls will be declared on June 2, the Lok Sabha election results will be out on June 4.