After 35 years of prolonged power in hand in the holy city of Puri, ultimately five-time BJD MLA and Cabinet Minister Maheswar Mohnaty has been defeated by his BJP rival Jayant Sarangi in the election by a margin of 4,008 votes.
Prior to becoming MLA, Mohanty was Chairman of the Puri Municipality for 10 years.
Sarangi, an outgoing Chairman of the Puri Municipality, joined the BJP a fortnight before the election when he was denied BJD ticket for the Satyabadi Assembly constituency at the instance of Maheswar Mohanty, who is the party’s Puri district president. He termed Mohanty’s decision as backstabbing at the eleventh hour. Now, he has taken a big revenge against Mohanty.
Sarangi, before his entry into the BJP, was known to be an opponent of Mohanty on leadership issues in Puri city. He had won the civic body chairman post while Mohanty was totally against his candidature. However, Sarangi completed five years in the municipality despite troubles coming from the Mohanty camp.
Now after the defeat of Mohanty, questions are raised who from the BJD would lead Puri. Will Mohanty be back to electoral fight again after five years? Will he wait for next five years? Will BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik give him another chance overlooking the new aspirants.
