Dilip Ray Set To Rejoin BJD After 17 Years

Bhubaneswar: In a major political development, former Union minister Dilip Ray showed up at BJD president Naveen Patnaik’s residence here on Saturday evening and will rejoin the ruling party on Sunday.

Ray, who resigned as Rourkela MLA and also from the BJP on November 30, met Naveen and the decks have been cleared, party sources said on Saturday evening.

Ray quit BJP on the ground that the saffron party had not fulfilled its promises pertaining to two long-standing demands — second bridge over river Brahmani and upgrading Ispat General Hospital (IGH) into a super-speciality hospital in Rourkela. This had triggered speculation that he was going to return to the BJD after around 17 years.

BJD sources said the party leadership had been in touch with Ray and chose to re-induct him at an opportune time. Ray was not available for comments.

Ray re-entering the BJD, of which he was a founding member but had to leave it in 2002 following differences with Naveen, comes quick on the heels of former BJD leaders Baijayant Panda, Damodar Rout and Balabhadra Majhi (Nabarangpur MP) joining the BJP.

Political analysts believe the regional party chose to have Ray back in the party to offset perception that the saffron party was attracting former BJD leaders and strengthening its base. “It seems to be well-calibrated considering that some ex-BJD leaders have joined the BJP in recent days,” observed a political analyst, requesting anonymity.

Hotelier-cum-politician Ray is seen as a major catch for BJD because he has considerable influence in Rourkela and Sundargarh district and also has deep pockets. In 2014 Assembly elections, he defeated BJD’s Sarada Prasad Nayak by a margin of 10,929 votes. He had also served as Rourkela MLA as a Janata Party candidate in 1985 and as a Janata Dal nominee in 1990. He did not contest the Assembly elections in 1995, 2000, 2004 and 2009. He served as industries minister in the Biju Patnaik government between 1990 and 1995 and was also a central minister in the A B Vajpayee dispensation. He was Rajya Sabha member on JD ticket from 1996 to 2002.

In 2002, Ray was elected to Rajya Sabha as an independent candidate with the support of some BJP MLAs. He then joined the Congress in 2004 but quit the grand old party in 2008. Subsequently, he joined the BJP, only to leave it ostensibly because a powerful section within the saffron party sidelined him along with ex-minister Bijay Mohapatra, who too quit the national party on November 30.