Freed Hikaka remains silent on quitting as MLA

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Questions are also being asked as to how the Naxals released the MLA without most of their demands being met.

Bhubaneswar: After more than a month in Naxal captivity, Odisha's BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka was finally set free at Balipeta in Koraput on Thursday. The BJD's Laxmipur MLA has apparently been released on the condition that he would resign from his seat after this.

It was an emotional reunion for the MLA with his wife after a nerve-wrecking 33 days. Kaushaliya Majhi received her husband Jhina Hikaka after the Naxals released him. The MLA was released around 10 am on Thursday at Balipeta in Koraput, Odisha. While Hikaka said he was treated well by the Naxals, he did not clarify on when he would resign as MLA, which was a key condition of his release.

"You all will know the Praja court decision on me and whether I would resign or not later. I am not mentally well to speak on all these matters. I, however, thank the media for all the efforts made by them to free me," Hikaka said.

Questions are now being asked as to how the Naxals released the MLA without most of their demands being met. Only seven prisoners have had their bail petitions moved out of the 29 prisoners the Naxals wanted freed. A much relieved Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ensured the 'Ram Dhun' played out as a peace offering to the Naxals.

"I am so relieved that the MLA is released and he would be able to unite with his family who were in a lot of distress for more than a month," Patnaik said.

Meanwhile, the ruling BJD has criticised the Naxals for forcing Jhina Hikaka to resign as MLA. Odisha Finance Minister Prafulla Ghadei said, "An elected representative should not be forced to resign by abducting him. This will set a very bad precedent."

Sources have told CNN-IBN that BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka was made to resign by the Naxals after Çhasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh leader Nachika Linga forced the Naxals to do so. The Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh is a very powerful tribal organisation in Koraput and without their support the Naxals cannot operate in that region. Nachika Linga is believed to be nurturing political ambition and become an MLA in Koraput after the BJD MLA resigns.