ROURKELA: Speculation is rife about the possible return of former union minister Dilip Ray to BJP after the saffron party announced its candidates for six Assembly constituencies in Sundargarh district leaving out Rourkela on Tuesday.
It is believed that Ray is most likely to contest from Rourkela seat on a BJP ticket. The buzz over Ray’s re-entry into BJP holds credence as senior party leaders are privately admitting it. As all eyes are now on the prestigious Rourkela seat, the fate of Ray hinges on the hearing of Delhi High Court on April 5.
Ray on March 21 had urged the Delhi HC to stay his conviction in the coal scam and allow him to contest the Assembly and Parliamentary elections. Earlier in 2020, a CBI court had convicted Ray and others for alleged irregularities in coal block allocation during his tenure as union minister of state for coal in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government in 1999.
Soon after, the Delhi HC had suspended the conviction. Sources said if Ray is fielded by the BJP in Rourkela, he would give a tough fight to Labour Minister Sarada Prasad Nayak who has been named as the BJD candidate for the Assembly seat. In 2014, Ray as a BJP candidate had defeated Nayak by a margin of 10,929 votes.
In November 2018, Ray had quit BJP and also the MLA post over differences with the party leadership. Since then, he continues to remain without any party affiliation.
While Ray remained incommunicado, his close confidant Subrata Patnaik said depending on circumstances after April 5, there is every possibility of Ray contesting from Rourkela seat as BJP candidate.
A senior BJP leader requesting anonymity said the party nomination for Rourkela is reserved for Ray. If all goes well, he will be the BJP nominee. “After quitting BJP, Ray indirectly supported the party and never harmed it,” he added.
Meanwhile, the BJP has played it safe by retaining three sitting MLAs Kusum Tete (Sundargarh), Bhawani Shankar Bhoi (Talsara) and Shankar Oram (Birmitrapur) in its first list of candidates. For RN Pali and Bonai, the saffron party has nominated new faces Durga Charan Tanti and Sebati Naik respectively. Similarly, the BJP has given a second chance to Narsingh Minz in Rajgangpur after he narrowly lost the seat in 2019 election.