BJD’s woes mount as ex-minister Amar Satpathy severs ties with party

BHUBANESWAR : In a big jolt to the BJD, former minister and six-time MLA Amar Prasad Satpathy on Monday severed all links with the regional outfit announcing he is no longer associated with the party.

The veteran politician has been a vocal critic of the leadership since the party’s loss in the elections this year. On Saturday last, he had directly blamed BJD president Naveen Patnaik for the debacle in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections and urged him to own up the responsibility. “Leaders should be prepared to take the blame, not only praise for success,” he said.

Satpathy had joined the string of leaders who have expressed dissatisfaction on the manner in which the party is being run. He is the second former MLA after Prakash Chandra Behera to quit BJD in the last one week. Earlier, two Rajya Sabha MPs Mamata Mohanta and Sujeet Kumar had left the BJD to join the BJP ranks.

Satpathy had then also voiced his concern saying, the desertion of MPs should be taken seriously. “We need to introspect and take appropriate measures to curb such trend,” he said.

The senior leader, who was denied ticket by the BJD for the 2024 Assembly election, said he has not renewed the membership of the regional outfit and has taken time-off from active politics. “I have not taken the membership of party during the drive undertaken by it recently. I felt suffocated in the organisation because of the prevailing atmosphere,” he said.