BALANGIR: Tension flared within the ranks of the BJD as internal discord came to light during a public event in Kantabanji on Tuesday when Giriraj Singh, an ex-serviceman vying for a party ticket for his wife, openly confronted party leadership, causing embarrassment besides exposing simmering dissent within the party.
The incident occurred at a ‘Mishrana Parba’ organised by the BJD and presided over by minister Niranjan Pujari. Among the dignitaries present were BJD MP candidate Surendra Singh Bhoi, former BJD MLA Ayub Khan and leader Ajaya Das.
However, the event took an unexpected turn when Singh, accompanied by his supporters and wife, stormed the stage and started a verbal tirade against the BJD leadership. His outburst brought to fore the powergame at play in Kantabanji, a constituency fraught with multiple contenders for the BJD Assembly ticket. Notable among them are two-time MLA Md Ayub Khan and Ajaya Das, who secured the party’s ticket in 2019 and has since consolidated his support base. The situation has escalated with the announcement of the chief minister’s candidacy from Kantabanji, aimed at quelling internal dissent and securing adjacent seats.
In 2019, BJD nominated Das who secured the third position with 54,527 votes but since then, in the last five years he has been able to forge a strong network among the constituents. It was only recently that Singh threw his hat into the poll ring demanding a ticket for his wife. This made things complicated.
However, Das reportedly felt cheated with the decision. His lukewarm response, coupled with the support garnered by Ayub Khan and Giriraj Singh, added fuel to the discord. Despite intervention of senior party leaders like Niranjan Pujari and Saroj Meher, tension continued. Even Singh expressed dissatisfaction alleging neglect and lack of recognition within the party hierarchy. “Is this why the party has appointed Singh as general secretary of BJD when he is not given priority at local meetings,” said a few angry supporters of Singh.