Former Odisha MLA Balabhadra Majhi Quits BJD Ahead Of Polls

Bhubaneswar: Former Odisha MLA Balabhadra Majhi resigned from the primary membership of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Monday ahead of the upcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.

“I do hereby relinquish from the primary membership of the party,” he said in a letter to BJD president Naveen Patnaik.

A former Minister, Majhi thanked Naveen for giving him opportunity to work for a long period since the formation of the party in 1997.

While the ex-MLA did not cite any reason behind his move to quit the ruling BJD, reports suggested that Majhi had been feeling neglected in the party for quite some time. He reportedly complained of being sidelined in the party.

Majhi had been elected to the state Assembly five times. He was elected from Narla Assembly constituency in Kalahandi district in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2004. In he election held in 2014, Majhi was elected from Lanjigarh Assembly constituency, also in Kalahandi, defeating Pradip Kumar Dishari, who was the Congress candidate then.

However, the ruling BJD fielded Dishari from the constituency in the 2019 Assembly election when Majhi was denied party ticket. Dishari had won the election. In 2009, Shibaji Majhi of Congress had been elected from the Assembly constituency.