Why Congress Nominee From Puri Lok Sabha Seat Opted Out of Poll Race?

Puri: In what could be termed as a setback for the Congress, its Puri Lok Sabha candidate returned the ticket, citing denial of financial support from the party to carry out poll campaigns.   

Sucharita Mohanty's 11th hour decision to back out has caused a major trouble for the Congress as the deadline for filling the nomination for Puri Lok Sabha seat is May 6. With less than 2 days left, the Congress will have to pick a new face for the Puri seat. 

Mohanty had not filed her nomination yet, while BJP's Sambit Patra and BJD's Arup Patnaik have already submitted their nomination papers. 

The polling will be held for the Puri Lok Sabha seat and seven assembly segments under it on May 25. 

‘Zero Funding From Party’ 

Mohanty addressed an e-mail to Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal, informing him about her decision to backout from the Puri Lok Sabha seat as a Congress candidate due to ‘lack of party fuding.’ 

“I sent a mail to the party brass on Friday night, conveying my decision not to contest due to zero funding from the party. I have returned the party ticket,” Mohanty said on Saturday.

Stating another reason behind the walkout, Mohanty said that in some of the seats in 7 Assembly segments of Puri, winnable candidates have not been given tickets. "Instead, some weak candidates got the ticket. I couldn't contest like this," she added. 

She recently launched a crowdfunding campaign, seeking public donations to contest the Lok Sabha polls. She claimed that she was forced to rope in donors but met with no success to drive sufficient funds for a winning campaign. 

Mohanty had unsuccessfully contested from Puri parliamentary seat in 2014.