Puri Lok Sabha seat candidate Sucharita Mohanty returns congress ticket, alleges lack of funding

Sucharita Mohanty, the Congress candidate for the Puri Lok Sabha constituency in Odisha, has declined to contest the upcoming elections, citing a lack of funding from the party. Mohanty, who is the daughter of former Congress MP Brajamohan Mohanty, expressed her decision in a letter addressed to AICC general secretary (organization) K C Venugopal on Friday.

In her communication, Mohanty lamented that her campaign in the Puri Lok Sabha constituency has been severely affected due to the party’s refusal to provide funding support. She alleged that AICC Odisha in-charge Ajoy Kumar had explicitly instructed her to fund her campaign using her own resources.

Mohanty, who transitioned from a salaried professional journalist to a politician a decade ago, emphasized that she had invested all her resources into her campaign in Puri. Despite her efforts to garner public donations and minimize campaign expenses, she stated that she had not achieved significant success in raising funds.

“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,” Mohanty mentioned in her letter.

Her decision to decline the party ticket highlights the challenges faced by candidates, especially those lacking adequate financial support, in contesting elections. The development underscores the importance of funding and resources in electoral campaigns, shaping the dynamics of political competition.