Odisha deputy speaker resigns to prepare for Lok Sabha elections

Odisha assembly deputy speaker Rajanikant Singh on Wednesday resigned from the post, saying he was unable to participate in party activities ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Updated on: Nov 9, 2023, 06:30:13 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty, Bhubaneswar

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Odisha assembly deputy speaker Rajanikant Singh on Wednesday resigned from the post, saying he was unable to participate in party activities ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The resignation came amid speculations that the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is considering fielding Singh from the Dhenkanal Lok Sabha seat in the general elections.

“The deputy speaker post is a constitutional one, for which I was unable to participate in party activities. It was a pending decision. I tendered resignation in view of the upcoming actions. It will facilitate me to strengthen party’s organisation and reach out to the people,” Singh, who submitted his resignation to assembly speaker Pramila Mallick on Wednesday afternoon, said. “Henceforth, I will work for the party and organisation. I want to strengthen the Biju Janata Dal in my region.”

A four-time BJD legislator representing Angul constituency, Singh has been serving as the deputy speaker of the assembly since 2019. Earlier, Singh served as the minister for mines in the Naveen Patnaik-led cabinet from 2012 to 2014.

According to BJD insiders, the name of Singh to contest from the Dhenkanal Lok Sabha seat was doing the rounds as the incumbent party MP from the constituency, Mahesh Sahoo, has already expressed unwillingness to contest again. With Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan is likely to contest from the seat in the general elections, the BJD is looking to field a “strong candidate” against him, a party functionary said, requesting anonymity.

Earlier in May this year, Bikram Arukh resigned as the assembly speaker before being inducted in the state’s council of minister to strengthen the BJD’s organisation in Ganjam, the home district of chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More