Congress says Puri candidate didn't drop out of poll race: We changed candidate

Congress on Saturday refuted the claims of its Puri Lok Sabha candidate Sucharita Mohanty dropping out of the poll race due to lack of funds. Senior leader KC Venugopal said that the party had replaced Mohanty with another candidate.

Earlier in the day, Sucharita Mohanty declined to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Odisha's Puri on a Congress ticket alleging lack of funding from the party.

Reacting to her claims, AICC general secretary (organization) K C Venugopal clarified the situation surrounding Sucharita Mohanty's decision to return the party ticket for the Puri Lok Sabha constituency, asserting that the candidate change was not due to her withdrawal, but rather a strategic decision by the party.

"No, we changed the candidate from Puri Lok Sabha seat. Sucharita Mohanty did not back out. A new candidate for the seat has been appointed, and the name will be announced soon," Venugopal said.

Sucharita Mohanty, daughter of former Congress MP Brajamohan Mohanty, claimed that her campaign in the Puri Lok Sabha constituency has been hit hard because the party has denied funding.

She alleged that AICC Odisha in-charge Ajoy Kumar "categorically" asked her to fight using her own resources.

"I was a salaried professional journalist who entered electoral politics 10 years ago. I have given all I have into my campaign in Puri. I tried a public donation drive to support my campaign for progressive politics without much success so far. I also tried to cut down the projected campaign spending to the minimum," she claimed.

Sucharita Mohanty, however, said she will remain a loyal Congress worker and her leader is Rahul Gandhi.

"I was denied funds from the party. In Assembly segments under the Puri LS constituency, weak candidates were given tickets. BJP and BJD are sitting on mountains of money. Vulgar displays of wealth are everywhere. It was difficult for me to fight the election," she said while speaking to reporters earlier in the day.

AICC in-charge of Odisha, Ajoy Kumar, too, refuted Sucharita Mohantly's claim and said that funds are provided to a candidate when the candidate launches the campaign and seriously fights at the ground.

"Mohanty is saying that no funds were provided and weak MLA candidates have been fielded. The party has nominated its best candidate for the MLA seats and funds will be provided to a candidate when the candidate launches the campaign and seriously fights at the ground," Kumar said.

"The party has already decided to change the Puri LS candidate and a proposal was submitted to the Congress high command. The name of the new candidate will be announced very soon," he added.

Sucharita was nominated by the Congress to contest the Puri Lok Sabha seat against BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra and BJD candidate Arup Patnaik, a former Mumbai Police Commissioner.

Voting in Puri is scheduled to be held on May 25 in the sixth phase. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.