Interview Times 
Bhubaneswar: Former odisha minister Ragunath Mohanty, who had quit BJP and resigned from the saffron party on Saturday. Shri Mohanty along with his family members has resigned from the primary membership of the BJP. “I do hereby inform you that I and my family members tendered resignation from the primary membership of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with immediate effect,” he said in his resignation letter.
On his further move,The former Minister mentioned that he decided to quit BJP as its leaders in Balasore have weakened to such an extent that it is impossible to work with them.“There is a vast difference of ideologies between BJP and me. So, it became impossible for me to remain in the party anymore,” he further added.
Shri Mohanty was first elected to the State Assembly from Basta under Balasore Lok Sabha Constituency in the 1990 Elections.. He retained the seat in 1995, 2000, 2004 and 2009 elections.A hype was spreading by the media that Mohanty and his family members would return to BJD and his daughter in-law Barshasoni Choudhury is likely to be named as BJD nominee for the Balasore Lok Sabha .
He was removed from the ruling party following his arrest in a dowry torture case slapped by his daughter-in-law Barsa Sony Choudhury. Later, he was taken back into the party in 2017.
