BHUBANESWAR: Senior BJD leader and former Kandhamal MP Achyutananda Samanta on Sunday announced retirement from active politics after his defeat in the Lok Sabha election.
Samanta met BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik at the Naveen Niwas on Saturday and expressed his desire to quit politics. He thanked Patnaik for giving him an opportunity to contest Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha elections as BJD candidate.
The former MP thanked members of the BJD and people of Kandhamal parliamentary constituency for their love and support. Announcing his decision at a media conference here, Samanta said that he will continue his social work which he has been doing for the last 32 years.
“My commitment to social service will continue till my last breath,” he added. Samanta lost to BJP candidate Sukanta Panigrahi by a margin of 21, 371 votes in the 2024 LS election from the Kandhamal seat.
While Panigrahi, got 4,16, 415 votes Samanta polled 395044 votes. He had won from the Kandhamal LS seat by a huge margin of 1,49,216 seats by defeating Kharavela Swain of the BJP.
The founder of KIIT and KISS, Samanta has immensely contributed to education and tribal upliftment, healthcare and rural development, art and culture.