Bhubaneswar: Senior leader Soumya Ranjan Patnaik to contest election as Independent candidate from Ghashipura Assembly seat in Keonjhar district.
Soumya Ranjan informed to the media person that he took the decision to contest the election as an independent candidate following a meeting with supporters in Anandpur.
I shall file my nomination paper on May 6, he said.
With his announcement, Patnaik will now face BJD’s Badri Patra, BJP’s Shambhunath Rout, and Subrat Chakra of Congress in the election battle.
The Khandapada MLA also disclosed that the BJP had planned to field him from Ghasipura. However, the saffron party yesterday nominated Shambhunath Rout.
Notably, Soumya Patnaik won the Khandapada seat on a BJD ticket in 2019. However, the party expelled him on charges of anti-party remarks and an alleged loan fraud case against him.