BHUBANESWAR: In a major setback to Congress ahead of polls, party’s Puri Lok Sabha candidate Sucharita Mohanty announced her withdrawal from the electoral race by returning her ticket. Mohanty said she had to return the ticket as the party refused to fund her campaign.
“I have returned the ticket because the party was not able to fund me. Another reason is that in some of the seats in the seven Assembly segments, winnable candidates have not been given the ticket. Instead, some weak candidates got the ticket. So, I couldn’t contest”, she said.
In a letter addressed to AICC general secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal, Mohanty expressed her grievance over denial of funding from the party, stating that it severely hampered the Congress’ campaign efforts in Puri. Despite launching a crowdfunding campaign, she failed to secure sufficient resources to meet election expenses, she said.
“I also tried to cut down the projected campaign spending to the minimum. Since I couldn’t raise funds on my own, I knocked at your’s and all other doors of our party’s Central leadership, urging them to commit the necessary party funds for an impactful campaign in Puri Parliament seat. The AICC Odisha in-charge Dr Ajoy Kumar Ji, however, categorically asked me to fend for myself,” she wrote and added that without party funding, it won’t be possible for her to carry out the campaign in Puri.
“It is clear that only fund crunch is holding us back from a winning campaign in Puri. I, therefore, return the INC ticket for the Puri Parliamentary constituency herewith,” Mohanty stated.
However, Congress in-charge Ajoy Kumar said that there was no problem with funding. Kumar told mediapersons that Congress wanted to change the candidate in Puri and the announcement of a new candidate was likely by today or tomorrow. Mohanty returned the ticket after knowing this and made her own letter viral, he added.
Mohanty, however, told this paper that Congress has divided LS seats into three categories, A, B and C depending on winnability as per the party’s perception. The party is funding A category seats with winning potential fully and also releasing some funds for B category constituencies. The party has put Puri seat in C category for which they are not providing any funding, she added. Voting for the Puri Lok Sabha seat and its seven Assembly segments is scheduled for May 25, with the nomination deadline of May 6. BJD candidate Arup Patnaik and BJP nominee Sambit Patra have already filed their nomination papers.