Bhubaneswar: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) continued to grapple with internal unrest in Odisha’s Balasore district, as two more youth leaders from Baliapal block resigned from the party on Sunday in protest against the recent suspension of local MLA Subasini Jena.
Sangram Parida, the block youth president of Biju Yuba Janata Dal (BYJD), and Sushant Behera, the student wing president, submitted their resignations from their organisational posts as well as from the party’s primary membership.
Sources close to them indicated that their decision stemmed directly from opposition to the party’s disciplinary action against Jena, the MLA from Basta assembly constituency.
The resignations followed
a similar move by Anil Kumar Mohanty, the president of Basta block, who quit the BJD on Saturday. Mohanty, a senior leader who had served as block president multiple times, expressed strong disapproval of Jena’s suspension in his resignation letter, describing the party’s decision as unjustified and highlighting his long-standing disciplined service to the organisation.
Jena was among six BJD MLAs suspended by party president Naveen Patnaik on Saturday for alleged anti-party activities, specifically cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections held on March 16. The other suspended legislators include Chakramani Kanhar (Baliguda), Naba Kishore Mallick (Jayadev), Souvic Biswal (Choudwar-Cuttack), Ramakanta Bhoi (Tirtol), and Devi Ranjan Tripathy (Banki). These MLAs reportedly defied the party whip by supporting a BJP-backed Independent candidate, Dilip Ray, for one of the seats, contributing to a setback for the BJD-Congress joint nominee.
The suspensions came after the party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) examined replies to show-cause notices issued to them on March 17 . It was being seen as a strong message against indiscipline and the party’s core principle of loyalty to collective decisions.