Bhubaneswar: After several Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leaders blamed VK Pandian for the regional party’s defeat in the last elections in Odisha, a former MLA on Friday targeted party president Naveen Patnaik over the issue.
Making an explosive statement, former BJD MLA from Chhendipada Susanta Kumar Behera virtually held the former Chief Minister for the party’s debacle in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha.
Claiming that the party was guided and managed in a wrong way, Behera said that BJD has now placed itself on the right path.
“It seems the then Chief Minister ignored the party to some extent. As a result, BJD faced defeat in the polls,” the former legislator said, adding that the party president should have directly led the campaign and addressed election meetings.
However, the party chief’s representative attended public meetings during electioneering, causing resentment among several workers and leaders and led to defeat, he claimed.
Moreover, improper management of electioneering played a significant role in the performance of the party, he said.
Behera, however, dismissed claims about infighting in BJD and said there is no rift among party workers. He also claimed that senior leaders were not sidelined and asserted that the party will bounce back to power in the next elections by winning more than 120 of the 147 Assembly seats in the state.
Susanta Behera, who was BJD MLA from Chhendipada for two terms from 2014 to 2024, was defeated by BJP’s Agasti Behera in last elections.