In a major jolt to Naveen Patnaik‘s Biju Janata Dal(BJD), its sitting MP from Bhadrak Arjun Charan Sethi on Saturday announced his disassociation with Odisha ruling party after his son was denied a ticket to contest in the upcoming mega battle of ballots 2019.
The Eight-time Member of parliament from Bhadrak Lok Sabha Seat Arjun Charan Sethi in his letter to BJD Boss Naveen Patnaik express displeasure over ticket Distribution. He also quit as the party’s District Chief.
Sethi had in the year 1971 entered Lok Sabha for the first time on Congress ticket represent the same constituency. In his letter to Odisha CM and BJD Chief, Sethi said, “I was elected as MP six times and twice as MLA from the Janata Dal and the Biju Janata Dal. I never hesitated to take on challenges to help the BJD party grow in the district’
He added in his resignation letter, that he has already conveyed to you (Naveen Patnaik) that because of his Old age he wanted his son to contest from the seat. But Unfortunately, his name was dropped by the party., He said in a letter to BJD Chief Naveen Patnaik
“The party and yourself have made it clear that I (Arjun Sethi) am unwanted in the party now,” he added in his letter.
Hours after announcing his disassociation, Arjun Sethi joined the saffron party on Saturday. The 78-year-old leader was a minister in the Atal Behari Vajpayee government.
Earlier, three BJD Lok Sabha members – Baijayant Jay Panda, Balabhadra Majhi and Pratyusha Rajeswar had resigned the primary membership of the party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The BJD in a run-up to the General Elections has fielded Manjulata Mandal, wife of sitting Dhamnagar MLA Muktikanta Mandal, to contest from the Bhadrak Lok Sabha Seat.
Apart from this, what can be seen as a major jolt to BJD ahead of the State polls and National polls, Raghunath Mohanty, a senior BJD leader, and the vice-president of the party resigned from the post on Sunday. He accused the party of deviating from the ideology and principles of the legendary leader Biju Patnaik.
BJD in a run-up to the polls will take on aggressive Bhartiya Janta Party and Congress who has inked an alliance with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.
The Odisha State Polls will be clubbed with the General Elections 2019. The State will Poll in four rounds of Polling starting from April 11. The State has a total of 147 State Assembly while having 21 Lok Sabha Seats.
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