BHUBANESWAR: Two senior leaders of the BJP, former Union Minister Dilip Ray and national executive member Bijay Mohapatra today quit the party, giving a severe jolt to the saffron outfit's Mission 120 + in Odisha ahead of the 2019 elections.
While Ray announced his resignation from the BJP in a Twitter post, Mohapatra wrote a joint letter to national president Amit Shah with Ray to quit the party. Earlier, Ray had met Speaker Pradip Amat to resign from the Assembly. Amat accepted the resignation of Ray from the Assembly in which he represented the Rourkela constituency.
In a post on Facebook, Ray also announced his decision to not contest from Rourkela: “It is with deep anguish that I have also decided not to contest the upcoming Assembly elections in 2019 from Rourkela,” he said.
In the three-page post on Facebook, former union minister Dilip Ray said, “Riding on the charismatic presence of Narendra Modi and the progressive change of the BJP had promised, I had envisioned a whole lot of development works for the city and had promised to fulfil the long-ignored dream and aspirations of
the people who had reposed their faith in me. I did put up the best of my efforts to the best of my ability and left no stone unturned on my part to materialise the dreams and aspirations of my constituents but at this stage, I acknowledge my failure in living up to their expectations and therefore, taking up the moral responsibility, I have decided to quit as the member of the State Legislative Assembly as well as from the membership of BJP.”
Addressing a media conference here, Mohapatra regretted his decision to join the BJP in 2013. Asked about his next move, Mohapatra said he has not taken a decision as yet. “After Dilip returns from the foreign trip in two weeks, both of us will take a decision on our next move. I will take a decision whether to contest the forthcoming elections after a meeting with Dilip,” he added.
On the speculation over his joining the BJD, Mohapatra said that since the political scenario in Odisha is now in a state of uncertainty, he will take a decision in this regard after his meeting with Ray.
Mohapatra alleged in his letter that despite repeated efforts to appraise Amit Shah of the sorry state of affairs in the party in Odisha, there was no move to take corrective measures. “Neither you nor any senior central party leader bothered to consult, review or take corrective measures. Be it the Mahanadi water
issue, or the unfulfilled promises of a second bridge over river Brahmani, the super specialty hospital at Rourkela or the dreams of lakhs of jobs for Odia youth which we sold at Paradip during the inauguration of the Oil Refinery – nothing, absolutely nothing materialized,” the letter said.