Jolt To BJD As Sitting MLA Quits Party Amid Ongoing Polls In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: In a jot to BJD amid the ongoing polls in Odisha, former minister and Simulia MLA Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi resigned from the primary membership of the party on Wednesday.

In a video message, the outgoing legislator said that his late father Parshuram Panigrahi was associated with former CM Biju Patnaik, after whom the BJD has been named, for over 40 years and he had been serving the party for 10 years. “My family will continue to serve the people of Khaira and Simulia. I am also hopeful of your cooperation,” he added.

In 2019, Panigrahi retained the seat, which he had won in 2014, by defeating Padmalochan Panda of BJP by a margin of 14,959 votes. Playing the women card, the BJD, however, nominated Subhasini Sahoo from Simulia this time. She is the wife of Shashi Kumar Sahoo, who unsuccessfully contested from the Assembly segment on BJP ticket in 2014.