Defector influx triggers murmurs in BJD in Odisha's Bijepur

BHUBANESWAR: A day after Ritarani Sahu, widow of Congress MLA Subal Sahu, joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and announced her intention to contest the Bijepur Assembly byelection, a senior leader of the destination party said it has not yet been decided to give the ticket to her.

The BJD’s Rajya MP Prasanna Acharya statement indicated that the decision to induct family members of Subal Sahu into the ruling BJD and field Ritarani Sahu in the byelection is meeting strong opposition from a faction in the district.

The decision rests with chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Acharya said.

Acharya was conspicuous by his absence at Ritaranu Sahu’s defection ceremony at the BJD headquarters on Saturday. He said had other important engagements.

Besides Ritarani Sahu, there are other aspirants to the BJD ticket from Bijepur. Prominent among them are former MLA from that very constituency, Ashok Panigrahi, and local party leader Prabhat Aditya Mishra.

In the Congress, after important local leaders defected to the BJD along with the family members of Subal Sahu, the party is yet to start reorganising the party apparatus in the state. Senior Congress leaders maintained that the delay in appointing a new president of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) is having an adverse impact on party morale in Bijepur.

Sources said former minister Ripunath Seth and youth leader Pranay Sahu are the two main contenders for the Congress ticket for the byelection.

Sources said as the leaders are waiting for the decision of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on restructuring the state unit.

Meanwhile, the BJP which improved its performance in the recent panchayat polls, is considering a candidate from within its ranks rather than field a defector.