BHUBANESWAR: Lok Sabha member from Kendrapara Baijayant Panda has resigned from the seat creating possibility of a by-poll for the constituency. If the by-election takes place, it will be one of the fiercely contested polls in Odisha. Sources said the possibility of a by-poll depends on when the resignation of Baijayant will be accepted.
Baijayant on Tuesday announced his resignation from the Lok Sabha seat in a tweet. “In letter to Naveen Patnaik on my intent to dissociate from BJD, I’d said on completion of my father’s kriyas I’d resign from LS. The day after they ended, I sought to meet Hon’ Speaker as per custom. It wasn’t possible & I understand she’s since gone abroad, so I’ve had it delivered,” he said in the tweet.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and Congress veteran Narasingh Mishra said a by-poll will be held if a MP or MLA resigned before six months of general elections. Sources, however, maintained that it depends as to when the resignation of Baijayant will be accepted.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has gone abroad and the resignation of Baijayant will be accepted only after her return, government chief whip and senior BJD leader Amar Prasad Satpathy said. Satpathy said the Speaker also may need the personal appearance of the MP before accepting his resignation.The Kendrapara MP had resigned from the BJD on May 28. In a three-page resignation letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Baijayant had said he was ‘hurt and unhappy’ over the fact that members of the ruling party did not attend the funeral of his father Dr Bansidhar Panda.
In a recent interview to a national television channel following his resignation from BJD, the MP had said he has kept all options about his future course of action open.He had narrated how the party which he helped form, deviated from the core principles on which it was built and how he ultimately became the target for being vocal about such deviations in the party.