BHUBANESWAR: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) lawmaker Tathagata Satpathy on Tuesday announced that he was quitting active politics to focus on journalism.
Speaking to ANI, Satpathy said he is quitting politics due to "tremendous pressure" from his son.
"I have decided to quit active politics under tremendous pressure from my son, to focus on journalism. Won't change my opinion, will not join any other party, time will tell whether I'm telling the truth or not. My wife doesn't want to join politics," he said.
Satpathy joined Janata Dal in 1989 under Biju Patnaik and was elected from Dhenkanal Sadar assembly constituency. In 1998, he was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time from Dhenkanal but lost a year later in the General Elections.
In 2000, Sathpathy quit BJD to join Bijoy Mohapatra’s Odisha Gana Parishad as secretary general. However, he came back to the BJD just a month before the 2004 Lok Sabha election.
A sitting MP from Dhenkanal, Satpathy is the owner and editor of 'Dharitri,' a leading Odiya newspaper. (ANI)