Odisha Assembly Polls: BJD’s Athmallik MLA Resigns From Party

Bhubaneswar: Another sitting BJD legislator resigned from the party after he was denied ticket for Assembly elections in Odisha.

Ramesh Chandra Sai, the MLA from Athamallik Assembly constituency in Angul district, resigned from primary membership of the ruling party.

In his resignation letter to BJD president Naveen Patnaik, Sai said he had won from the constituency as BJD candidate by a record margin of more than 47,000 votes in 2019 elections.

Stating that he had served the party for the last five years, the MLA said he was resigning from the party on personal grounds.

Earlier, ticket denial saw four BJD leaders quitting the party ahead of elections.

Also Read: Voices Of Dissent: MLA Aspirants Quit BJD Over Ticket Denial

It may be noted that the BJD announced its second list of 27 candidates for the Assembly elections on Wednesday. In this list, the party has dropped Sai and nominated Nalinikant Pradhan as its candidate for Athmallik seat.

The ruling party in the state had announced the first list of candidates for 9 Lok Sabha seats and 72 Assembly seats on March 27. It had released the second list of 6 more candidates for Lok Sabha polls the same day.

The simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Odisha will be held in four phases on May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1.