BARIPADA: Rajkishore Das, who switched over to BJD from BJP recently, on Tuesday filed his nomination papers as the ruling party candidate for Morada Assembly segment.Rajkishore had earlier contested on BJP ticket and defeated thrice from Baripada and Morada Assembly segments. This time he was given a BJD ticket by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to contest from the only unreserved seat of Mayurbhanj Parliamentary constituency.
He slammed Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and alleged that he was mentally harassed in BJP for the last one-and-a-half decades.Rajkishore said he was fielded by BJP from Morada Assembly seat in the 2009 and 2014 polls but was left alone in the electoral arena as no senior leader of the party cooperated with him during campaigning. He was defeated by BJD candidate Prabin Chandra Bhanjadeo in the 2009 and 2014 elections.
“Losing thrice as a BJP candidate is not a major concern for me as senior leaders Surama Padhi, Manmohan Samal, Suresh Pujari and Dharmendra Pradhan too have lost multiple elections during their political career,” Rajkishore said. He alleged nepotism in BJP and said several candidates with criminal cases pending against them were fielded by the party.