BJD removes Soumya Ranjan from party post

Bhubaneswar: The Biju Janata Dal vice-president, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, was removed from his post on Tuesday ahead of Assembly and Lok Sabha polls in Odisha for allegedly writing critical editorials in his Odia daily. The BJD has, however, not cited any reason for removing him from the party post.

The action against Soumya Ranjan came after senior BJD leaders accused him of ''blackmailing'' the party by writing critical editorials in his Odia daily and giving statements in TV channels. He had recently criticised the manner in which the State government functions and 5T Secretary V K Pandian's whirlwind tour of the State with money from the public exchequer.

Soumya rejected the allegation that he was ''blackmailing'' the party and claimed that he gave some suggestions for the advancement of BJD.