Other disgraced BJD leaders reluctant to join hands
Expelled BJD leader Damodar Rout seems to be in further wilderness as his move to form a regional party is being cold-shouldered by other leaders disgraced out of the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
Even as Rout has proposed to launch the new outfit named as ‘Biju Samata Kranti Dal’, he has so far received the response from only former Union Minister Braja Kishore Tripathy, another leader eased out of the BJD long ago.
Rout said on Sunday that Tripathy’s existing Samata Kranti Dal is likely to merge with the proposed new party leading to formation of Biju Samata Kranti Dal.
Though Rout has been trying to rope in expelled BJD leader and former Kendrapada MP Baijayant Panda to the new party and has offered him the outfit’s leadership, Panda has so far spurned the move. Panda on Sunday stated that he is yet to take a decision in this regard.
Panda’s non-response has irritated Rout, who has begun criticising the former as a ‘Bepari’ (businessman) having no “political agenda”.
Adding to Rout’s frustration, former BJD leaders Prafulla Chandra Ghadai, Bijay Mohapatra, Dilip Ray and Panchanan Kanungo are also not responding to his pleadings for a new political alignment. According to political observers, all these leaders are reluctant to join hands with Rout as he has gone against the BJD only after being removed from Ministry and then from the party.
In fact, no such leader has attended any public meeting addressed by Rout during the last month though invited by him repeatedly.
They have obviously concluded that Rout is not a person worth trust in politics.