BHUBANESWAR: Former minister and expelled BJD leader Damodar Rout is likely to float a new political party on Friday. Sources said Dama will announce the formation of his new outfit at a press conference. The name of the new political party will likely be Biju Kranti Dal. Though it is not yet clear who will join the new outfit, former union minister Braja Kishore Tripathy and ex-MLA Jagneswar Babu will be present at the press meet.
Dama had announced that he will form a new political outfit after he was expelled from BJD by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on September 12 for anti-party activities.
The former minister was accused of making anti-party statements and hobnobbing with the Congress and BJP leaders in Jagatsinghpur district.
The seven-time MLA had created a flutter by raising three alleged scams to the embarrassment of the ruling BJD as well as the State Government. While interacting with reporters, the veteran leader had alleged irregularities in sapling plantation, procurement of polythene sheets for Orissa State Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation Limited, cooperative banks and the health sector. The Chief Minister had removed him from the Ministry on December 22, 2017 for his controversial remarks against Bramhins.
After Dama’s expulsion from BJD, there was a move to bring together Biju loyalists who had fallen out of favour to float a new political party to challenge Naveen. Former Kendrapara MP Baijayant Panda had visited Dama’s residence on the day the latter was expelled from BJD, fuelling speculations in this regard.
However, the move fell through as many leaders including former ministers Prafulla Chandra Ghadei and Panchanan Kanungo developed cold feet. Dama has attended public meetings at several places in the State since his expulsion and raised corruption charges against the Naveen Patnaik Government.