Bhubaneswar, Mar 19 (PTI) Hundreds of women activists of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Thursday staged a demonstration in front of the official residence of party MLA Subasini Jena, who voted in favour of BJP-supported Independent candidate Dilip Ray in the recent Rajya Sabha elections.
Jena, a lawmaker from Basta assembly segment in Balasore district, was among the six party MLAs who have been issued show cause notice by the BJD to justify her action of going against the party decision and voting for Ray.
Jena said, “I have cast my first vote to BJD’s official candidate Santrupt Misra in accordance with the directives of party supremo, Naveen Patnaik. However, my second preference vote was given to Independent candidate as per my conscience. I did not support Dr Datteswar Hota because he was being supported by Congress, the party which is BJD’s main rival in Basta assembly segment.” She maintained that supporting a Congress-backed candidate would not have been acceptable to her voters.
However, the agitation led by Biju Mahila Janata Dal (BMJD) president Snehangini Chhuria condemned Jena’s actions and called it a “betrayal” of the party that made her an MLA.
Chhuruia alleged that despite being present with BJD until the final moments, Jena voted in favour of a BJP-supported independent candidate. The BJD leadership termed this act a “serious breach of party trust and discipline”, Chhuria said.
The BJD’s women’s wing asked Jena to resign from the Assembly membership and face a fresh mandate from the people.
The BJD’s youth wing activists had also staged a similar protest in front of residences of two other MLAs – Devi Ranjan Tripathy (Banki) and Souvic Biswal (Choudwar-Cuttack) who had voted for Ray in the Rajya Sabha election.
Both Tripathy and Biswal admitted to having cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections and justified their action by noting that they voted for BJP-backed Ray in the RS polls, respecting Biju Patnaik’s legacy.
Meanwhile, sources said that the city police have made elaborate security arrangements near the official residence of the 11 MLAs who allegedly cross-voted, defying the official decisions of both the BJD and the Congress. PTI AAM AAM RG
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