Bhubaneswar: Chilika MLA Prashant Jagdev, the expelled BJD leader who joined BJP in February, will not be contesting the upcoming elections in Odisha.
Speaking to media on Friday, Jagdev said he was keen for a contest with BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik from Hinjli Assembly seat. “Since the saffron party did nominate me from the seat, I have decided not to contest the upcoming elections,” he said.
He said that Naveen had deviated from Biju Patnaik’s ideology. “While Biju Babu spoke about development of Odia, Naveen is running the government with non-Odia officers, who are looting the state. People are fed up with the Naveen-led government. The wave of change is clearly visible and the BJP will form a double engine government in Odisha after the elections,” he added.
This came a day after he was booked for allegedly misbehaving with a working journalist during a Jansampark Padyatra of BJP MP candidate Aparajita Sarangi organised at Chhanagiri under Jankia police limits in Khurda district.
The Chilika MLA was earlier expelled from BJD in 2021 for allegedly assaulting a Dalit leader of BJP.
The BJP has fielded Sisir Mishra, a fresh face, from the constituency, where Naveen is seeking re-election for the sixth time in a row. He is the younger brother of late Sarat Mishra, who was a noted BJP leader and worked towards creating a support base for the saffron party in Ganjam. Sisir had also worked as coordinator for BJP candidate and lawyer Pitambar Acharya in Hinjili in 2019.
