PARADIP: A day after evincing interest to contest from Paradip, Jagatsinghpur district BJD president Bishnu Das arrived in the bastion of ousted BJD leader and local MLA Damodar Rout on the pretext of visiting Biswakarama Puja pandals on Thursday.
Rout’s rivals headed by trade union leader Santosh Patnaik took Bishnu in a procession from Kujang to Paradip where the district BJD chief garlanded the statue of Biju Patnaik. Different trade union leaders and truck owner associations felicitated Bishnu on the occasion.
District BJD secretary Manindra Guru informed that Bishnu is on a two-day visit to Paradip. On Thursday, he visited different Puja pandals despite the rain. Bishnu will interact with BJD leaders and workers including elected representatives of panchayats on Friday and seek their cooperation to strengthen the party’s base at the grassroots after removal of Rout from BJD, he added.
Addressing mediapersons, Bishnu said he visits Paradip every year to see the pandals of Biswakarma Puja. Clarifying that he had no role in Rout’s removal from BJD, Bishnu said, “The Paradip MLA was expelled for his anti-party activities. However, there will be no impact on Paradip unit of BJD after Rout’s ouster.”
Sources said chairman of Paradip Municipality Basant Biswal, Paradip BJD chief Sumant Kumar Biswal, former Zilla Parishad president Sabita Mohapatra and local MP Kulamani Samal, who were strong supporters of Rout, are likely to extend their support to Bishnu to strengthen the party in the region.Supporters of Rout including Kujang block BJD president Chittaranjan Mishra said despite still being in Congress, Guru has identified himself as the district secretary of BJD in the invitation issued for Friday’s meeting.