Bhubaneswar: BJD president Naveen Pattnaik on Saturday expelled former Kakatpur MLA Rabi Mallick and Arun Panda of Ganjam from the party for anti-party activities.
Mallick had resigned from the primary membership of the Conch party on April 5. He had also stepped down as a Member of the State Planning Board.
It was obvious that the former MLA had quit the party after being ignored in the selection of candidate for the Kakatpur seat. The BJD has fielded Tusharkanti Behera as its nominee for Kakatpur.
Speculation was rife that Mallick would join the BJP and seek party ticket for Kakatpur after Behera quit the saffron party despite being announced as its nominee and joined the BJD on April 2.
