Bhubaneswar: Dealing blow to the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), former minister and sitting MLA from Telkoi assembly constituency Premananda Nayak on Friday resigned from primary membership of the party.
The lawmaker said he resigned as he felt that he was sidelined by the party’s top leaders in all organizational activities in his Keonjhar district.
Nayak sent his resignation letter to chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik and organisational secretary.
“I am resigning from the primary membership of Biju Janata Dal. The valuable time that I spent with you will continue to inspire me to serve my constituency,” read Nayak’s letter.
Sources said Nayak was upset that he wasn’t allowed to meet CM Naveen Patnaik over various issues in his constituency. Besides, BJP leader and former Champua MLA Dhanurjay Sidu, the main opponent of Nayak, was allowed to join BJD in the recent past. On the other hand, no one got in touch with him and tried to listen to his pleas even after he first sent his resignation by email in October last. So, he decided to resign from the party’s primary membership, it was learnt.
Nayak won the assembly election in 2009 and 2019 on a BJD ticket. During Naveen Patnaik’s 5th term, he was picked as skill development and technical education minister.
“I was a minister, but still couldn’t get access to meet the CM and bring to his notice all the problems prevailing in my constituency. Later, they brought a candidate to the party whom I had contested against.”
“Ever since BJD was formed, it has always won the elections in Telkoi. So, I don’t understand why they had to include the candidate (Dhanurjay Sidu) who had lost elections twice. This slowly began to create a fraction in the party. I tried to talk about him to senior party leaders, but everyone ignored me. The unity that we had in the past in our constituency is no longer there. So, I made up my mind to tender my resignation,” Nayak told reporters.
He further added, “BJD party was like my family. Misunderstanding occurs between family members. However, at the end of the day, things get resolved. But, I was never given the chance to speak despite being a well-wisher of the party.”
