Bhubaneswar: With election less than 2 months away, Manmath Routray, younger son of six-time Congress MLA Suresh Routray, joined the BJD in Odisha capital on Wednesday.
Manmath reached the BJD headquarters, Sankha Bhawan, in a procession of supporters and some councillors before being formally inducted into the party fold in presence of Rajya Sabha members Manas Mangaraj and Sasmit Patra.
Ahead of his joining, the former pilot said both his father Suresh Routray and CM Naveen Patnaik share the same ideology of serving the people of Odisha. “My father has allowed me to join BJD with a heavy heart, but we have to accept change,” he said.
However, it is still not clear whether the BJD would field him from Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha or Jatni Assembly seat, which his father has been representing since 1977.
Former MLA and president of BJD’s Khurda district Bibhuti Bhusan Balabantaray is also a ticket aspirant from Jatni. He lost to Suresh Routary in 2019 by a margin of 7,500 votes. Balabantaray had won the seat in 2009.
On the other hand, the BJD has been projecting Srimayee Mishra as its Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha candidate. It is to be seen if the party would instead opt for Manmath to checkmate BJP’s Aparajita Sarangi, who defeated BJD’s Arup Patnaik by a margin of more than 20,000 votes in 2019 elections.
Reacting to his induction in BJD, Jatni MLA Suresh Routray said that he will not campaign for Manmath but will pray for his victory. “I am committed to serving Congress till the end of my life. I tried to convince my son for over a month but failed. He requested me to allow him to chart his own course. I expect BJD to show him the respect that he deserves,” he said.
He added that he would campaign for his elder son, Siddharth, at Nimapada.
