Bhubaneswar: A day after BJP renominated sitting MP Pratap Sarangi, Kharabela Swain on Monday announced that he would contest as an independent from Balasore Lok Sabha constituency.
Addressing a presser, the three-time MP said that he would invoke former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and speak about development plank of BJP in Balasore to garner votes but will not resign from the party. “I will contest as an independent candidate and join BJP if I win. I had contested from Kandhamal in the last election; and evinced interest to contest from Balasore this time. Due to some vested interest groups, ticket was not given to me. I will not quit BJP, the party can expel me,” he said.
He is the first in BJP to voice his dissent after party announced the list of 18 of total 21 candidates for Lok Sabha polls in Odisha, on Sunday.
Swain was hopeful of a ticket from the constituency since his return to BJP in 2019 after spending a decade in political wilderness. He was elected to Lok Sabha thrice on BJP ticket before charting a different political path in 2010 with Utkal Bharat.
In 2019, the BJP fielded him Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat at the eleventh hour and he lost to BJD’s Achyuta Samanta by around 1.5 lakh votes.