BJP MLA Dilip Ray and senior BJP leader Bijoy Mohapatra of Odisha Assembly resign from the party; might join BJD

Two jolts for the BJP came in an hour from Odisha, when senior leader Bjijoy Mohapatra and Rourkela MLA Dilip Ray quit the party in a succession one after the other.

Both the dissident leaders were unhappy with the top leadership in Delhi and were sidelined due to their activities and demands lately in the Odisha. Dilip Ray, who is a serving MLA also resigned from the seat of Rourkela, which now fell vacant.

News Agency ANI tweeted saying, “Former Union Minister Dilip Ray resigns as Rourkela MLA,quits BJP; says in his resignation letter,'I acknowledge my failure in living up to their (constituents) expectations&therefore taking up moral responsibility, I've decide to quit. The decision is emotionally painful for me.”

Bijoy, who is a senior leader in the party and has been associated with the BJP form a long time, today said, “Since Dillip Ray will go abroad for a few days, we will meet again after 15 days and decide on our future course of action.”

Both the leaders, who wrote a letter to the BJP president Amit Shah while resigning from the party, wrote that “We regret to state that despite repeated efforts in appraising you on the sorry state of affairs in the party here, neither you nor any senior central party leader bothered to consult, review or take corrective measures”.

It is pertinent to note that Odisha will be going to polls next year and before the general assembly, a jolt for the BJP in the Naveen Patnaik’s state will not be a good sign for the ambitious Amit Shah’s election machinery.

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