Raseswari Announces Retirement From Politics After Quitting BJD Over ‘Incapable MLA Candidate’

Bhubaneswar: Minutes after quitting BJD, former MLA Raseswari Panigrahi on Tuesday said that the party has betrayed Sambalpur by fielding an incapable person from the Assembly seat for the upcoming polls in Odisha.

“Is there nobody in Sambalpur to contest the poll? I decided to quit BJD for the dignity and pride of Sambalpur. For me, ‘mati aga, party pachha’ (first soil, then party),” the former Sambalpur MLA, also a gynaecologist by profession, told a presser.

“With your help and cooperation, many development works were undertaken during my tenure as MLA from 2014 to 2019. Though I was not an MLA in the next term, I was involved in all kinds of development work and organisational activities of the party.”

She further said that the party has insulted Sambalpur by giving ticket to a person who was dropped from the council of ministers over “nonperformance”. “Sambalpur is the epicentre of western Odisha. It’s like the second capital of Odisha. The party have fielded a person from the seat whom it had earlier termed as ‘unworthy’. The pride and self-respect of Sambalpur is at stake,” she said, while spelling out the reason for her resignation from BJD.

Putting all speculation about her future move to rest, Raseswari also announced retirement from politics. “I will neither participate in any political activity or contest as an independent candidate,” she said, adding that her engagement with social work would continue.

She also mentioned that her supporters have also decided to leave the party with her.

Raseswari is the sister of former MP Sriballav Panigrahi, who also represented Sambalpur assembly seat and was a minister. The family has a support base in the region.

According to sources, she was keen to contest the upcoming polls from Sambalpur assembly constituency but the party initially went for former MP Prasanna Acharya and later swapped the MLA candidates, bringing Rohit Pujari to Sambalpur from Rairakhol.

Her quitting can be seen as a setback to BJD in Sambalpur assembly and parliamentary constituencies. Party organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das is contesting from Sambalpur LS seat and he pitted against another heavyweight from BJP, Dharmendra Pradhan.

In 2014 elections, Raseswari wrested the Assembly constituency from BJP by defeating former minister Jayanarayan Mishra, who was then seeking a fourth term, by 9,958 votes. The BJP veteran had won the seat in 2000, 2004 and 2009. However, intra-party squabble in the BJD cost her the seat in 2019 as Jayanarayan emerged victorious by polling 4,380 votes more than her.