Simarani Nayak joins BJP, says BJD selling party ticket
BHUBANESWAR: A day after quitting the ruling BJD for being denied renomination for the upcoming Assembly election, Hindol MLA Simarani Nayak joined the BJP here on Tuesday.
After joining the saffron party along with her supporters at the state BJP headquarters here in the presence of state president Manmohan Samal, Vijay Pal Singh Tomar, Dhenkanal Lok Sabha nominee Rudra Narayan Pani and other leaders, Nayak said, “I worked hard for the party (BJD) in the last 10 years as a legislator and have undertaken many development works in the constituency. My hard work was not taken into consideration as the party’s preference of candidate selection was money. Since my constituency has no industry or mines, I could not afford to buy by a BJD ticket.”
Nayak said she was greatly influenced by all the initiatives taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to empower the women. “I will strive to take development programmes of Modi to all villages in my constituency,” she said.
Later talking to reporters, Nayak said that the BJD had done her injustice. She said she has been doing politics from the grassroots for a long time before being elected to the Assembly. “Now, the BJP has given me the opportunity to work for the people and I will carry out whatever responsibility is given to me,” she said.
Nayak is aspiring for a party ticket from Hindol, which she has been representing from 2014. The BJP has not named any candidate for the seat.
The party had given ticket to Ashok Kumar Nayak, who significantly improved the vote share from 20 per cent to over 40 per cent in 2019. He is the main contender for the party ticket this time. Welcoming Simarani into BJP, Samal said large number of BJD leaders and workers are joining the saffron party after realising that the ruling party is going to be rejected by the people in the elections.