The Odisha unit of BJP received a jolt on Friday when two senior leaders Dilip Ray and Bijoy Mohapatra resigned from the party.
In a joint resignation letter sent to BJP national president Amit Shah, both Mahapatra and Ray said that several leaders in the party have remained silent over various issues concerning the state fearing denial of tickets.
“For us, the interest of the state is supreme. We have never compromised our self-respect or the interest of the state for any post, power or ticket. The well-meaning suggestions by us to you were construed as a threat by certain egocentric self-servicing individuals who resorted to dirty tricks and a campaign was launched in our respective constituencies to try and deride us,” Ray and Mahapatra said in the letter.
Ray took to his twitter account and tweeted, “It is with deep anguish that I have decided to quit as the Member of State Legislative Assembly as well as from the Membership of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).”
“In 2014, after a long gap, I decided to make a comeback to electoral politics and contest the Rourkela Assembly Constituency seat. Riding on the charismatic presence of Narendra Modi and the progressive change the BJP had promised, I had envisioned a whole lot of development works for the city and had promised to fulfill the long-ignored dreams and aspirations of the people who had reposed their faith in me,” Ray said in the letter.
“The decision to quit is emotionally too painful and difficult for me but I do think that this, at present, is best suited to the interest of Rourkela. I hope my constituents will understand the unavoidable circumstances that rendered it necessary for me to take this difficult decision,” Ray added.
