Bhubaneswar: Raghunath Mohanty, a former minister, has officially resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Odisha. Today, he submitted his resignation letter to Manmohan Samal, the President of the Odisha BJP. There are indications that he may rejoin the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). Mohanty, who previously served as a five-time MLA representing Basta in Balasore district, had switched to the BJP after leaving the BJD in 2019. Despite contesting the 2019 elections from Basta on the BJP ticket, he was defeated by the BJD’s Nityananda Sahoo.
Having initially entered the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Basta in the 1990 elections, Mohanty held onto his seat through successive victories in 1995, 2000, 2004, and 2009.
However, Mohanty faced disciplinary actions within the BJD after being removed from his position as the party’s vice-president and subsequent expulsion following allegations of dowry harassment lodged by his daughter-in-law, Barsa Sony Choudhury. He was later reinstated into the party fold in 2017.