Unhappy over denial of party ticket to him to contest assembly polls, former Laxmipur MLA Kailash Chandra Kulesika quit the ruling Biju Janata Dal and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday.
Kulesika joined the saffron party in presence of state BJP president Manmohan Samal and many other senior officials. Laxmipur block BJD president Pramod Khara also joined the saffron party along with hundreds of supporters.
The ruling party’s decision to repeat the sitting MLA Prabhu Jani from the Laxmipur Assembly constituency came as a blow for Kulesika as he had hoped to secure a nomination after joining the regional outfit in 2021.
After joining the BJP, came down heavily on the ruling BJD saying it had betrayed him to appease the sitting MLA Prabhu Jani.
“I was brought to the BJD by party’s organising secretary Pranab Prakash Das on the assurance that I will be the Laxmipur assembly candidate in 2024. Accordingly, I had worked hard to strengthen the party in this constituency. However, they preferred to field the sitting MLA as he has been facilitating mining interest of certain powerful BJD leaders,” said Kulesika.
The former lawmaker said he was offered Rs 1 crore and the post of Special Development Council (SDC) advisor by party leader Pranab Prakash Das to keep mum and not to revolt.
“People of Laxmipur will give the BJD a befitting reply for betraying me. This party treats popular leaders very shabbily,” said the former legislator after joining the BJP.
There was no response from the BJD as yet.
Kulesika contested as an independent candidate from Laxmipur Assembly seat in 2009 Vidhan Sabha elections. In 2014, he won the seat on Congress ticket but lost to BJD’s Prabhu Jani in 2019 by a slender margin of 229 votes.
