Chit Fund Taint: Two BJD MLAs Not To Contest Election This Time

Pravat Biswal

Cuttack: With BJD high command mulling over not giving tickets to party leaders, implicated in the multi-crore chit fund scam, two BJD leaders have expressed their unwillingness to contest the Assembly polls.

Talking to the mediapersons here on Wednesday, sitting Cuttack-Choudwar MLA Pravat Biswal said he had apprised the party president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of his decision not to contest the Assembly election this time.

To a question on whether he would like his son Souvik to replace him as the candidate for Cuttack-Choudwar seat, Biswal said the high command will take a decision on this matter.

Sources said the party is contemplating to field his wife Laxmi Bilasini instead.

Biswal was arrested by the CBI from his Mahanadi Vihar residence in Cuttack for his alleged complicity in Seashore scam, on September 19, 2017. He was under the scanner for a deal between his wife Laxmi and Seashore Group CMD Prashant Dash over a piece of land at Benapur mouza in Jajpur district. The BJD lawmaker heaved a sigh of relief after the Orissa High Court granted him conditional bail in June 2018.

Also Read: BJD To Field Kin Of Two Chit Fund Scam Accused!

Besides Biswal, another BJD leader and sitting Banki MLA Pravat Tripathy has also informed the party supremo about his unwillingness to contest the polls.

Sources said his son Devi Ranjan Tripathi may replace him and get a ticket to contest from Banki Assembly constituency. He is the state working president of the Biju Chhatra Janata Dal.

The BJD legislator was arrested on October 31, 2014, for his alleged links with a Ponzi firm, AT Group. Soon after his arrest, he was suspended from the party. The Orissa High Court, however, granted him bail on March 3, 2015. Two years later, the BJD revoked his suspension.