BJD gets its Kendrapada rebels back on board

Bhubaneswar: The BJD on Wednesday checked dissidence in Kendrapada assembly seat with rebel candidate and former MLA Sipra Mallick agreeing to withdraw her nomination as an independent.
Sipra, who was BJD’s legislator from Kendrapada in 2009-14, was a strong candidate for a ticket to the seat this time around.

The party, however, decided to field finance minister Shashi Bhusan Behera from the seat, even denying a ticket to sitting MLA Kishore Tarai. Unhappy with the party’s decision, Sipra on Tuesday filed her papers as an independent, the last day for filing nomination for the fourth phase.

“I wanted to contest from Kendrapada as the people of my constituency are with me. They have persuaded me to file nomination as an Independent. Going by the directive of the party, I have decided to withdraw my nomination unconditionally,” she said at Naveen Niwas, the residence of chief minister Naveen Patnaik. She added that she would continue to serve the people of her constituency even if Behera won.

Insiders in BJD said senior leader from Kendrapada and former minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak convinced Sipra to withdraw her nomination to ensure that BJD’s votes were not divided. Atanu, who is in the fray from the nearby Mahakalapada constituency, has also brought Tarai, reportedly unhappy at being denied a ticket, on board. “There were multiple aspirants for each constituency. It is natural that some will get hurt but that does not mean that we will go against the party,” said Tarai.

Both Sipra and Tarai came to Naveen Niwas to express support for Behera, who was present there with Atanu.

In the Kendrapada assembly seat, Behera will fight Congress’s Ganeswar Behera and BJP’s Sunakar Behera.