Though Dilip Ray after resigning from the BJP and also as the Rourkela MLA is now on a foreign tour, certain things that have happened here clearly indicate he is still controlling political activities of Rourkela.

An example is the ensuing election of the Rourkela Bar Association (RBA) which is very important from political point of view, especially given the fact that the 2019 elections are just a few months away.

For 2018-19 year, the election for various office bearers is scheduled on December 21 and the filing of nominations and withdrawal is already over. But the withdrawal from the fray as president candidate in the last moment by Satya Sharma has sparked speculations.

Source said though three candidates were in the fray for the post of president but there was every possibility of a neck-and-neck fight between incumbent president Sharma and former president Ramesh Bal. But the picture is getting cleared when Sharma withdrew from the race unexpectedly. It may be noted here that Bal who was earlier president of RBA for over 10 times filed his nomination with an appeal to give him another chance as it would be his last election contest. Despite this it was not easy for him as Sharma filed the nomination.

Similarly Bal was not able to fight the election last year due to the restriction as per the by-laws of RBA. But source said he had extended the support to Sharma on instruction of Ray. Since Bal is known as the close aide of Ray he had no way to disobey Ray. Similarly, once upon a time, Sharma was loyal to former Rourkela MLA Sarada Prasad Nayak but last year defying the party line, he had contested and won. That time to defeat Nayak’s supporting candidate, Ray could not leave any chance and supported Sharma, source said.

But sources said this time the fight between Bal and Sharma was definitely an odd situation for Ray and if by chance Bal could have lost then it would not only be his defeat but the defeat of Ray as well. That is why the grapevine in the city has it that Ray might have urged Sharma over telephone to quit from the fray.

Most interestingly, Sharma in forenoon was busy in campaigning and in the afternoon withdrew from the race.

With the withdrawal of Sharma, the path for Bal becomes clear.

It is said that though Ray has declared that he would not contest the election from Rourkela but he is definitely in job to control the political developments. Similarly it is also a talked that Ray may make all attempts to ensure that his close aide gets elected in 2019 election.