Former Dhamnagar MLA Rajendra Kumar Das was expelled from the BJD by party supremo Naveen Patnaik for his ‘anti-party’ activities on Wednesday.
Das is contesting the Dhamnagar Assembly by-election as an Independent candidate being dissatisfied over not getting the BJD ticket for the by-poll, for which the BJD has fielded Tihidi block Chairperson Abanti Das as its nominee.
Following the revolt by Rajendra, the party had engaged several senior leaders to persuade him to withdraw from the contest but in vain.
Rajendra had successfully contested from Dhamnagar as a BJD candidate in the 2009 Assembly polls by defeating the BJP’s Bishnu Sethi. However, he lost to Sethi in the constituency in the 2019 elections while contesting as a BJD nominee.