Rajya Sabha MP Pyarimohan Mohapatra launched Odisha Janmorcha as a political party today and vowed to oust ruling BJD, from which he was expelled, in the next polls.
Mohapatra, who was expelled from BJD last year for anti-party activities, dubbed the 13-year-old Naveen Patnaik regime as 'British Raj'. "People will no longer tolerate the dictatorial British rule. People who don't understand anything about Odisha have to go," he said taking a dig at the chief minister.
Mohapatra was elected OJM president by its representatives from 110 of the total 147 assembly segments of the state and former MLA Rajendra Prasad Singh became its vice-president.
Jagneswar Babu has been elected OJM secretary general and Sarat Mishra its treasurer.
Mohapatra, known for his accurate political prediction and a key strategist of BJD for over a decade besides being its second most important leader after Patnaik, also claimed that OJM would bag 80 to 85 assembly seats in the next elections.
Asked whether OJM would go to poll alone, Mohapatra said his party would forge alliance with like-minded parties to dislodge BJD but refused to name any.
"Leaders of some national political parties are in touch with me for last three months," he claimed.
Asked for his reaction senior BJD leader and Panchayati Raj Minister Kalpataru Das said OJM would have no impact in Odisha.
