Senior Congress leader and Jatni MLA, Suresh Routray bode an emotional farewell to the Odisha Legislative Assembly as he came out of the House on Friday.
Routray will not contest elections anymore.
While coming out of the House on the last day of the Budget Session and most probably the last day of the current Legislative Assembly before the State goes into polls in the next two to three months, Routray paid his respects to the House by prostrating on the steps.
Speaking to reporters, Routray said, “This is the last Assembly Session of my life. I have been elected to this House several times in the last 50 years. It does not matter what government was in power, I have been raising the problems of my Constituents in this House regularly. I am glad that every government has given priority to my demands.”
“I am glad to have contributed to the establishment of 48 High Schools, 13 colleges, IIT, NISER, Infosys, AIIMS, Jatni flyover, and Kalinga Stadium. I would like to extend my gratitude to the People who have sent me to the Assembly six times,” he said.
“I will not contest elections anymore. Instead, my younger son Manmath Routray will contest from Jatni and my elder son will contest from Nimapara. I request the people to bless my two sons and make them victorious,” Routray added.
In February 2023, Routray made a surprise announcement about his retirement from electoral politics and said he would not contest elections in the future.
The veteran leader was elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly six times from the Jatni constituency. In 1977, he won the constituency on a Janata Party ticket. Later, he represented the constituency in 1980, 1985, 1995, 2000, and 2019 as a Congress candidate.