Former MLA Rama Ranjan Baliarsingh quits BJD

Bhubaneswar: Former legislator of Satyabadi Rama Ranjan Baliarsingh today resigned from primary membership of BJD and alleged that party supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has become a puppet in the hands of a Tamil IAS officer.

Baliarsingh, who was an independent MLA from Satyabadi from 2004 to 2009, said, "Earlier the CM was working as per the directive of late Pyari Mohan Mohapatra and now he is being guided by a Tamil IAS officer sitting on the third floor."

He alleged Patnaik is not looking into party affairs for which many leaders have left BJD.

Besides, he also expressed displeasure over inclusion of sitting MLA Umakanta Samantray into BJD fold. Baliarsingh as a BJD candidate had earlier lost to an independent candidate Umakanta Samantray in the 2014 Assembly polls.

In his reaction, BJD spokesperson Amar Prasad Satpathy refuted the allegations and said all decisions are being taken by party Chief Naveen Patnaik.

"The CM is taking the final call and party programmes are being held in democratic way. Earlier, the party had given several responsibilities to Baliarsingh on different occasions. As now he had made up his mind, he is making such baseless statements,” said Satpathy.