Denied BJP Ticket, Debasis Nayak Joins Hands With Congress Ahead Of Odisha Elections

Bhubaneswar: Almost two months after switching sides from BJD to BJP, four-time MLA Debasis Nayak joined hands with Congress in Odisha on Saturday.

He was inducted into the Hand fold in the presence of Odisha Congress in-charge Ajoy Kumar and former OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik.

“An outsider have taken over BJD and making all attempts to sideline founder members of the party. The sole intension of V K Pandian is to merge BJD with BJP. This is the last election which the BJD will be contesting as an independent party,” said Ajoy Kumar at the joining ceremony.

On Friday, Nayak announced that he would contest the upcoming election from Bari, through a social media post, after the BJP fielded Umesh Chandra Jena from the seat. “People of Bari are my strength. Party is not paramount for me. I will contest the poll to serve them,” wrote the former Bari MLA.

He was hopeful of a ticket after joining the BJP on February 25, having won from Bari for four consecutive terms from 2000 to 2014 on BJD ticket. The saffron party, however, picked Umesh, who had contested from the seat on Congress ticket in 2019.

Nayak had also served as the officer-on-special duty during his stint as Union Steel and Mines Minister in the then Atal Behari Vajpayee-led government. He was given a ministerial portfolio when Naveen Patnaik became the chief minister in 2000. In 2008, he was dropped from the ministry following a controversy and was suspended three years later for questioning the BJD supremo’s style of functioning. In 2019, he did not get a party ticket.