Bhubaneswar, Oct 11 (PTI) The BJD’s prospective candidate for the Nuapada assembly bypoll, Jay Dholakia, on Saturday joined the ruling BJP in Odisha, in a major setback for the Naveen Patnaik-led party.
He is the son of Rajendra Dholakia, the BJD MLA whose death necessitated the by-election in the seat.
Jay had claimed last week that he had received the “green signal” from Patnaik to contest the November 11 bypoll as the BJD candidate.
What proved even more embarrassing for the BJD was that he skipped the ‘Jan Sampark Padyatra’ in Nuapada, organised by the party to showcase him as its potential candidate, leaving senior leaders waiting for hours.
Instead, he appeared at the state BJP headquarters in Bhubaneswar, from where TV channels beamed live visuals of him joining the party.
He was welcomed to the BJP by its top brass in the state, including Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Deputy CM KV Singh Deo and the party’s Odisha chief Manmohan Samal.
Welcoming him, the CM said, “Jay will complete his father’s incomplete works in Nuapada. He decided to join the BJP after witnessing the development works happening in the state.” Jay said he joined the BJP to ensure better development of Nuapada.
“My father had the dream of making Nuapada the number one district of Odisha. In order to fulfil my father’s dream, I joined the BJP,” he told reporters.
His father was the MLA of Nuapada for 21 years before passing away at a hospital in Chennai due to cardiac arrest, on September 8 at the age of 68. He won his first election in 2004 as an Independent candidate, and the remaining three times on a BJD ticket.
He was the minister of planning and convergence from June 5, 2022, till the BJD lost power to the BJP in the assembly elections in June last year.
Sources close to the Dholakia family said Jay visited Delhi and Rajasthan over the last three days, finalising his entry to the BJP.
BJD leaders, however, had no inkling about the decision as he was in contact with them till Friday night.
The BJD, which was left red-faced by the development, said Jay’s father would never have accepted his decision if he were alive.
“He is Rajendra Dholakia’s adopted son; therefore, he does not carry his blood, and that is why he betrayed the party which made his father MLA four times and also a cabinet minister. Had Rajendra Dholakia been alive, he would not have accepted this,” BJD vice-president Pratap Jena claimed.
Patnaik, who returned to Bhubaneswar from New Delhi after a month on Friday, convened a meeting of the party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) to choose a new candidate for the Nuapada by-poll. The meeting was underway till the last reports were received.
Meanwhile, Jay’s supporters celebrated in Nuapada after he switched sides and took out a massive rally without any party flag.
State Congress president Bhakta Charan Das alleged the development proved that the BJP and BJD have an internal understanding in Odisha.
“BJD candidate Jay Dholakia joining the BJP right after the Nuapada by-election announcement clearly exposes their hidden alliance. Both parties fear the growing influence and resurgence of the Congress party in Odisha,” he claimed.
Das also claimed that the BJP first approached the Congress candidate, Ghasiram Majhi, but failed because of his “strong ideological base”.
The development was a replay of the 2018 scenario that followed the death of Congress’s Bijepur MLA Subal Sahu. In that bypoll, the BJD had fielded his wife, Rita Sahu, who went on to win the seat. PTI AAM AAM SOM
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