Mohanty wrote an email to Congress general secretary K C Venugopal saying that without party funding it will not be possible to campaign in Puri.

“Our campaign in Puri parliamentary constituency has been hit hard because the party has denied me funding. AICC Odisha in-charge Dr Ajoy Kumar ji categorically asked me to fend for myself. I was a salaried professional journalist who entered electoral politics 10 years ago. I have given all I have into my campaign in Puri,” Mohanty wrote.

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She noted: "I tried a public donation drive to support my campaign for progressive politics without much success. I also tried to cut down the projected campaign spending to a minimum."

"It is clear that only fund crunch is holding us back from a winning campaign in Puri. I regret that without party funding, it won't be possible to carry out the campaign in Puri. I, therefore, return the party ticket for the Puri Lok Sabha constituency herewith," Mohanty said in her mail to the AICC.

However, Mohanty said she will remain a loyal Congress worker and her leader is Rahul Gandhi.

Puri is shaping up to be a high-profile battleground, with the BJP fielding its national spokesperson Sambit Patra and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) fielding former Mumbai Police commissioner Arup Patnaik.

In the 2019 elections, the Congress secured only 3.94 per cent  of the vote share (44,734 votes) in Puri. This was way down from 2014 when Mohanty who had contested back then secured 18.5 per cent of the vote share and finished second.

The Lok Sabha elections in Odisha will take place in four phases -- May 13, 20, 25 and June 1.

(With agency inputs)