Two women BJD leaders quit party ahead of Lok Sabha, assembly polls in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Two prominent women BJD leaders have quit the ruling party, weeks ahead of the simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the state.

While Hindol MLA Simarani Nayak resigned from the BJD on Monday, former Sambalpur legislator Raswswari Panigrahi announced her decision to quit on Tuesday.

Nayak resigned from the primary membership of the party, hours after being denied a ticket to contest the assembly polls. She was replaced by Dhenkanal MP Mahesh Sahu.

In her resignation letter to BJD president Naveen Patnaik, the two-time MLA cited personal problems as the reason behind her move. Nayak had won the seat in 2019, defeating BJP candidate Ashok Kumar Nayak by almost 19,000 votes.

Panigrahi said she quit after the BJD leadership fielded candidates who were from outside the district.

The BJD initially fielded former MP Prasanna Acharya from Bargarh for the Sambalpur assembly seat, but later named Rohit Pujari from Rairakhol as its candidate for the constituency.

In 2014, Panigrahi had defeated veteran BJP leader and former minister Jayanarayan Mishra by 9,958 votes. However, Mishra emerged victorious in 2019, polling 4,380 votes more than her.

At least five sitting BJD MLAs – Arabinda Dhali (Jaydev), Premananda Nayak (Telkoi), Parsuram Dhada (Soro), Ramesh Chandra Sai (Athmallick) and Simarani Nayak – have so far resigned from the BJD after being denied party tickets.

Two party MPs – Bhartruhari Mahatab and Anibhav Mohanty – have also quit ahead of the polls.