Summary:
Though Tripathy has communicated his decision to Naveen, party insiders said he was lobbying for a ticket for his son Deba Ranjan, a youth BJD leader, in his stead. Bhubaneswar: Supporters and rivals of BJD’s Niali MLA, Pramod Kumar Mallick, clashed outside the residence of party president and chief minister Naveen Patnaik here on Tuesday. “Some people who do not have a base in Niali are trying to tarnish the image of our MLA by making such allegations. We urge our president to select any leader save him or his son,” said Khetrabasi Das, former president of BJD’s Banki unit. “No BJD supporter took part in the rally though the protesters held BJD flags,” he said.A group of people from Jaleswar also raised slogans against local MLA Aswini Patro outside Naveen Niwas and urged the party chief to not give a ticket to him..