Congress Red-Faced After Puri Candidate Sucharita Mohanty Drops Out due to Lack of Funds in 2024 Elections.

Sucharita Mohanty, the party’s candidate for the Puri Parliamentary Constituency, has withdrawn from the election due to lack of funds. In a letter to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, she expressed her inability to bear the financial burden and relinquished the INC ticket. Mohanty, a former journalist, claimed that she was urged by Odisha Congress in-charge Ajoy Kumar to finance her own campaign, despite her limited resources.

Despite attempting to raise funds through crowd-funding, she was unable to gather sufficient financial support, leading to her decision to withdraw. Mohanty also voiced dissatisfaction with the selection of candidates for seven Assembly segments under the Puri Lok Sabha constituency, and her requests for changes were reportedly ignored by the party leadership. The election in Puri is scheduled for May 25th.

This incident is not an isolated case for the Congress, as the party has faced setbacks in other constituencies. In the Surat Lok Sabha constituency, the Congress nominee, Nilesh Kumbhani, was disqualified, resulting in the BJP candidate being declared the unopposed winner. Similarly, Akshay Bam, the Congress candidate from Indore, opted to withdraw and joined the BJP.

The withdrawal of candidates and the challenges faced by Sucharita Mohanty highlight the financial constraints and internal disagreements within the Congress party in the lead-up to the elections.