Odisha Assembly Elections: BJP Fields Dilip Ray From Rourkela, Congress Slams (image:twitter.com/DilipRayOdisha)As BJP released the candidates list for the upcoming Odisha Assembly elections, former Union minister Dilip Ray received ticket for Rourkela assembly seat. It was only a week before Delhi High Court has stayed his conviction in a corruption case in 2020.
As veteran BJP leader expressed acknowledgment for his candidacy in social media, in a response post Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh slammed BJP and wrote “Washing Machine Jai Ho”.
Washing Machine Jai Ho https://t.co/veQUxeLZ1c
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) April 16, 2024
Dilip Ray, a three-time MLA and two-time Rajya Sabha is encountering a trial in a coal block allocation irregularities case in Jharkhand in 1999. He was then serving as the minister of state (MoS) for coal in the erstwhile Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
Though he was sentenced to a three year jail term in October 2020, a recent Delhi High Court verdict stayed his conviction in the scam case and it paved green signal for his contest in the Assembly polls.
In social media platform X, Dilip Ray thanked BJP top leadership for his nomination from Rourkela. “Grateful to Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, National President Shri JP Nadda Ji, Odisha State President Shri Manmohan Samalji and the BJP Central Election Committee for reposing faith in me by nominating me as the Candidate for Rourkela Assembly Constituency,” he wrote on X.
INDIA alliance members, particularly Congress uses the “washing machine” analogy to refer to that leaders against whom corruption cases are filed and came out “clean” after joining the BJP. As the elections are around the corner, the usage can be seen find place in opposition leader’s remarks and recent one was Kharge implying Dilip Ray’s BJP ticket from Rourkela.
In 2018, Dilip Ray resigned from BJP, accusing that he was being treated as a piece of furniture in the party. However, he did not return to the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha, which he associated earlier.
“After quitting the BJP, he has supported the party and never harmed it. His joining the BJP would make BJP candidate Jual Oram’s win easy in Sundargarh Lok Sabha constituency,” the Hindustan Times quotes, as a BJP leader is saying.
Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Odisha will be held concurrently in four phases on May 13, 20, 25 and June 1.