Two senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Odisha quit the party on Friday, saying they would “no longer continue in the party as showpieces”, theHindustan Times reported.
Former Union minister Dilip Ray and national executive member Bijoy Mahapatra sent a joint resignation letter to party president Amit Shah. Ray, who represents Rourkela in the Assembly, also resigned from the state legislature, PTI reported. Assembly elections are due in the state in 2019.
Mahapatra told reporters that they will announce their future course of action after a fortnight, PTI reported. Multiple reports suggested that they are likely to join the ruling Biju Janata Dal.
“For us, the interest of the state is supreme,” Ray and Mahapatra said in the resignation letter. “The well-meaning suggestions by us to you were construed as a threat by certain egocentric self-servicing individuals who resorted to dirty tricks and a campaign was launched in our respective constituencies to try and deride us.”
The two said they cannot “be treated as furniture in the party while the rootless talk big and project a larger than life image”.
The two leaders also cited as reasons for their decision to quit the delay in the construction of a second bridge over the Brahmani river and the establishment of a super-speciality hospital in Rourkela as well as the lack lack of job opportunities for local youth at Paradip oil refinery. Ray and Mahapatra said senior BJP leaders never bothered to consult them or take corrective measures despite being appraised about these problems.
BJP state unit president Basant Panda said the resignation of the two leaders will not affect the party’s prospects in the state, the Hindustan Times reported. “Whether to stay or leave the party is an individual’s personal decision,” said Panda.
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