KENDRAPADA: A BJP worker and sarpanch of Jajpur district, who had hosted party leaders Amit Shah and Dharmendra Pradhan for lunch in his house three years ago, has recently joined BJD.
The dalit sarpanch of Arei gram panchayat, Debananda Mallick, joined BJD at Binjharapur on December 26, in the presence of local MLA Pramila Mallick and other party leaders.
“I joined BJD as the Naveen Patnaik-led state government has been doing many development works in the state. The Centre is anti-farmer. Being a farmer myself, I I resigned from the saffron party,” he said.
Earlier, BJP had projected him as a dalit leader in the SC-reserved Binjharpur assembly seat to challenge incumbent MLA Mallick in her home turf. Shah, then BJP president, had addressed a public meeting at Panikoili in Jajpur district on February 5, 2017, and had stopped at Arei village to lunch at Mallick’s house. During his 45-minute stay in the village, Shah had been treated to roti, lentils, rice, bari chura (a crispy dish of black gram and water gourd), coconut chutney, mint chutney, fried drumstick leaves and other vegetarian Odia dishes on banana leaves.
“All the food had been made in the kitchen of Mallick himself. His wife and some other dalit women had served the food to Shah and to Union minister Pradhan,” recalled Maheswar Mallick a villager.
Mallick had been suspended from BJP last month for ‘anti-party’ activities. “His joining BJD will not harm us,” said Gautam Ray, president of the district unit of BJP.