Bhubaneswar: A day after senior BJD leader Prafulla Ghadei alleged that his son Preeti Ranjan was a victim of the party’s internal politics, Opposition whip Pramila Mallik on Friday countered him saying that there was no room for any such conspiracy in the party.
Addressing a public gathering, Ghadei had said that his son was forced to contest from Sukinda instead of Korei against his will. “There has been conspiracy to uproot us from Korei. I have seen tears rolling down his eyes as he was going to file nominations during the 2024 elections. People of Korei Assembly constituency were also in tears and pleaded with him to contest from the seat. It moved me deeply,” he said.
Ghadei added that arrogance can spell doom for a party.
Challenging him to name the person who hatched the alleged conspiracy, Pramila said that the party is going strong under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik. “There is no ego or arrogance within the party and it is functioning as it is supposed to. Why is Prafulla Ghadei making these claims now?” she questioned.
Preeti Ranjan lost the last elections from Sukinda to BJP’s Pradeep Bal Samanta by 9,577 votes after two consecutive wins in 2019 and 2014. His father had won the seat in 2009 when Preeti Ranjan contested and won from Korei, and also in 2004, 2000, 1995 and 1990.
The BJD instead fielded Sandhyarani Das, mother of party organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das, as its candidate from Korei Assembly seat in Jajpur district in 2024. It was then seen as a back-up plan for Pranab, who was pitted against BJP heavyweight Dharmendra Pradhan in Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat. However, the mother-son duo lost the elections from the respective constituencies.
