Bhubaneswar: Senior Congress leader and former MLA of Pipili, Judhistir Samantray on Wednesday made a shocking revelation on the mode of allotment of party tickets by the party leadership while taking a jibe at the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik.
Talking to newsmen here, Samantray said the OPCC chief is demanding a hefty amount of Rs 5 crore from each aspirant to provide him/her with a party ticket. “The OPCC president has collected Rs 5 crore from Ajit Mangaraj to give him a party ticket,” he added.
Alleging that Niranjan has been conspiring his defeat, Samantray said the OPCC chief had given give him the ticket at the eleventh hour out of sheer compulsion after BJD announced the name of Pradeep Maharathy for the Pipili Assembly seat.
“I have told him that I am not going to contest the election this time. Let me tell you that I will never join BJD and BJP. I am not going to contest the poll even as an independent candidate,” Samantray pointed out.