Bhubaneswar: It has been less than six months that senior leader Damodar Rout joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and it seems the bonhomie between them is over. The senior leader is repenting his decision to join the saffron party after the Biju Janata Dal expelled him for anti party activities.
The political circles in Odisha are agog with stories that the senior leader has been left single in the BJP. Neither Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan nor the state leaders are listening to Dama Rout. They are not even bothering to take calls of the senior leader. It is learnt that Dama is repenting all this.
Damodar Rout unnecessarily became vocal and critisised Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in order to leave the party and join the BJP. His antiparty activities also peaked last year when the Party Chief dismissed him from the party. He even once called himself the contender to Naveen and aspired to become the Chief Minister. He tried to denounce the political leadership and the government in the name of CBI and corruption. Damodar rout became the talking point in the media before the general elections. He also did not think of his son who is in the BJD.
After being dismissed from the Biju Janata Dal, Damodar Rout said that he won’t be going to any of the political parties and will fight Naveen Patnaik k. But later, the so called Biju Babu’s disciple forgot the principles of Biju Babu and joined the saffron party. Initially, he was vocal against the BJP and Naveen, but now he is nowhere to be heard.
Senior BJP leaders Kanak Vardhan Singhdeo and Dharmendra Pradhan had persuaded Dama to join the party. He also campaigned in various places for the BJP. But he lost his own seat. While his son Sambit Routray won from Paradip on a BJD ticket, Damodar Rout had a humiliating defeat in the Balikuda-Erasama assembly segment.
After being sidelined by the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, the senior leader is keeping silence and is in repentance for all the things that have happened. He is now keeping himself busy with the newspaper he brings out and is away from the mainstream politics.