Sucharita Mohanty, who was representing the Congress party as a candidate for the significant Puri Lok Sabha constituency, has decided to withdraw from the race. She stated that her decision stemmed from both her party's financial constraints in supporting her campaign and her own inability to match the financial prowess of her strong opponents from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

In an email sent to AICC general secretary (organization) K C Venugopal on Friday, Mohanty, the daughter of former Congress MP Brajamohan Mohanty, expressed that her campaign in the Puri Lok Sabha constituency has suffered significantly due to the lack of funding from the party.

Ms. Mohanty stated “I have withdrawn my candidature for Puri Lok Sabha seat as I am unable to mobilize resources to fund my campaign for the ongoing elections. The Congress refused to fund my election campaign. Besides, there has been no funding for seven candidates contesting assembly elections in Puri Lok Sabha jurisdiction,” 

She continued saying "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 further added “ I don’t blame the Congress as its finances have been crippled by the Narendra Modi Government. The BJP Government wants to win the election by paralyzing the Congress, the main Opposition party. Suppressing Opposition and winning elections unethically is their ploy.”

Ms. Mohanty was discontented with the choice of candidates in four out of the seven Assembly constituencies that fall within the Puri Lok Sabha seat. She said “I found less-deserving candidates getting Congress tickets in four Assembly segments. I took it up with the Congress leadership. I had been assured that these four candidates would be changed and winnable candidates would replace existing ones. But that did not happen,” 

Ms. Mohanty criticized the extravagant display of financial power by BJP and BJD candidates in the Puri Lok Sabha seat. Notably, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra and former Mumbai Police Commissioner and BJD leader Arup Patnaik are contesting for the Puri seat. She expressed her desire for a campaign focused on the people's needs, which was hindered by the lack of funds. She attributed this financial constraint to the BJP government's actions, stating that the party has been hampered by various spending restrictions and frozen bank accounts.

When questioned about the minimum amount of funds she needed for her campaign, the Congress leader responded by stating, “ I Would require ₹5 lakh for distributing one Nyaya card containing five pledges of party among all families. The campaign materials and transportation cost for reaching out to every corner of the Assembly seat require huge fund.I tried everything to mobilize funds through crowd-funding, but failed to get enough response. I wanted to run a simple campaign without resorting to flaunting financial muscle. Besides, I also believe in value-based politics.”

AICC in-charge of Odisha, Ajoy Kumar commented on this matter and said “Mohanty is saying that no fund 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.”

He further mentioned that before actively engaging in the campaign, Mohanty accused the party of not providing funds. However, when she was seeking a party ticket, Mohanty had expressed her strong intent to contest the election seriously. The party has already decided to change the candidate for the Puri Lok Sabha seat, and a proposal has been submitted to the Congress high command. 

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