Bhubaneswar: Expelled Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik has filed his candidature as an independent candidate for the Ghasipura seat in Keonjhar district on Monday. This move comes after Patnaik was denied a ticket from the BJD following his expulsion from the party.
However, the nomination filing process witnessed an unexpected scene. As Soumya arrived to submit his nomination papers, BJD candidate and five-time MLA Badri Narayan Patra was submitting his own nomination. After Badri completed the process, Soumya started his own nomination filing. But when the BJD candidate Badri was about to leave, Soumya came before him.
First they greeted each other by joining hands with a Namaskar. Suddenly, Soumya pulled Badri’s hand and placed it on his own head. Badri reciprocated the gesture with a smile, waved his hand over Soumya’s head before departing with namaskar.
BJD’s Badri, a five-time MLA and an ex-minister, is over 80 years old. On the other hand, Soumya, a senior leader, former MP, and MLA, is over 70. Even though Patnaik has been expelled from the BJD, the politeness between the two, during their brief interaction, served as a reminder of the underlying courtesy in politics.
