Ex-MP Tathagat attends BJD event, fueling speculation of political comeback

Bhubaneswar: Former MP Tathagata Satpathy created a flutter when he attended the inauguration of new BJD party office Sankha Bhavan in Odisha capital on Sunday.

Scotching speculation that he might re-enter the political fray during 2024 twin elections, Tathagata said, “I attended the programme on the request of BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. I am not affiliated to any party and not willing to contest elections,” he told mediapersons.

The four-time MP from Dhenkanal said the was happy to have received the invite but refused to answer further queries on speculation about his possible comeback.

Tathagata quit politics ahead of 2019 elections to refocus on journalism, having allegedly fallen out of favour with Naveen. While he claimed he had been mulling over the decision for a long time and his son finally convinced him to retire, BJD insiders said he made the announcement after being denied party ticket.

With senior BJP leader and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan making his intentions of contesting the 2024 elections from Odisha clear, there have been rumours that BJD might go back to Tathagata if the former picked Dhenkanal considering that it is his native place.

In 1989, Tathagata joined the Janata Dal under Biju Patnaik. He successfully contested from Dhenkanal Lok Sabha constituency in 1998, but lost the seat a year later to Congress’ Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo. After a brief stint with Bijoy Mohapatra’s Odisha Gana Parishad, the editor-politician then joined the BJD and was elected from the same parliamentary constituency for 3 terms in a row – 2004, 2009 and 2014.