Bhubaneswar: Senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and former MP Achyuta Samanta Sunday announced to quit active politics.
Samanta announced his decision after meeting BJD president and the outgoing Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at Naveen Niwas in Bhubaneswar Saturday.
Samanta thanked Patnaik for giving him chances both in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. Samanta stated that his commitment to social service will continue till his last breath.
Samanta was elected to Rajya Sabha from Odisha in 2018 but resigned from the Rajya Sabha in 2019. He then contested the Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat as a BJD candidate in the 2019 election and won the seat defeating his nearest rival BJP candidate.
After his defeat in the Kandhamal parliamentary constituency in the 2024 general election — at the hands of BJP candidate Sukanta Kumar Panigrahi — Samanta announced his retirement from active politics. He was one of the four sitting MPs of the BJD who were nominated by the party to seek reelection from their respective parliamentary constituency. However, all the four BJD sitting MPs lost the election to their rival BJP candidates.
UNI
