ROURKELA: BJP leader Nihar Ray has raised a banner of revolt against the nomination of Dilip Ray as the saffron party’s candidate from the prestigious Rourkela Assembly seat.
On Wednesday evening, hundreds of Nihar’s supporters gathered in front of his residence at Basanti Colony and raised slogans favouring his candidature over Dilip.
Nihar, a former protege of Dilip, had contested from Rourkela on a BJP ticket in 2019 election but lost to BJD’s Sarada Prasad Nayak by a margin of 10,430 votes.
“I have been in the BJP for the last one decade. After my defeat in 2019 polls, I worked hard at the grassroots level to implement and highlight the poverty alleviation and welfare programmes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government and further strengthen the BJP organisation in Rourkela. I am hurt, sad and feel deceived,” Nihar said.
The BJP leader claimed in 2019, Dilip indirectly sabotaged his prospects. Being an influential political entity, the former union minister had reportedly assured him of a BJP ticket this time. However, Dilip ended up being the party candidate from Rourkela.
Drawing a disparaging analogy about Dilip’s treatment to him, Nihar said he would talk to state BJP president Manmohan Samal and senior leaders in Sundargarh district over the issue. In a veiled threat, the disgruntled leader said he would decide his next course of action after holding discussion with his supporters in a couple of days.
BJP’s Panposh organisational district president Latika Patnaik downplayed the incident and said dissatisfaction among unsuccessful ticket aspirants is common in all parties. She hoped that the issue would be sorted out amicably.
Sources said before the unexpected return of Dilip, there were two strong BJP contenders in Rourkela. One was Nihar and the other was BJP’s state spokesperson Dhiren Senapati. BJP insiders said the bitterness was such that Nihar and Dhiren camps would not have tolerated either’s candidacy.
In his chequered political career, Nihar was first made the nominated chairman of the erstwhile Rourkela municipality in the early 1990s as a protege of Dilip. He followed Dilip to the Janata Dal and BJD. After Dilip’s unceremonious ouster from the BJD, Nihar followed Dilip to the Congress. In 2004, he lost as a Congress nominee from Rourkela to BJD’s Sarada.
After Dilip joined BJP during 2008, Nihar also followed suit. In 2014, he lost the chance to contest as Dilip fought the polls on a BJP ticket and won from Rourkela. After Dilip quit BJP in November 2018, Nihar contested the 2019 polls as BJP’s candidate and lost.