BHUBANESWAR: A day after labelling him an opportunistic politician for raising questions on the manner in which the party is being run, the BJD on Friday suspended senior leader and former minister Prafulla Mallik from the organisation with immediate effect on charges of anti-party activities.
Interestingly, the BJD’s office order suspending Mallik from the party was signed by former minister Pratap Jena, who is the vice-president of the party. Earlier, all orders on disciplinary action against party leaders were signed by the president Naveen Patnaik.
Mallik said that he had already resigned from the BJD on personal grounds on Friday morning and the order suspending him came later. “I have been a minister and an MLA multiple times. I am grateful to Naveen Patnaik for the opportunities he had given me in the party. But I have never indulged in any anti-party activities,” he said.
The former minister said he has no plans to join any other political party at present. “Politics is not in my mind now. I will continue to work for the people of Odisha, particularly labourers,” he said.
Mallik had threatened to resign from the party on Thursday, raising questions over the functioning of the party. Refusing to join issues with Jena saying he is much junior to him in politics, Mallik said people of Odisha know why he was denied ticket by the BJD in 2024 Assembly election.
This is not the first time that Mallik criticised the BJD leadership over the issue. He had earlier alleged that BJD has deviated from its ideology and not playing the role of an effective Opposition political party.
The action against Mallik on Friday came days after the resignation of senior leaders, former deputy chairperson of State Planning Board N Bhaskar Rao and former minister Lal Bihari Himirika protesting the party’s functioning.