Bhubaneswar, March 25: Eminent doctor and SCB Medical College and Hospital superintendent Pratap Kumar Rath has withdrawn his resignation letter and decided not to contest polls on a BJP ticket from Nilagiri.

However, not all have followed Rath. Other doctors in the fray have decided to go ahead with contesting the election with their resignation letters having been accepted.

Sources said after deciding to take the political plunge, Rath had tendered his resignation. But since his family and close friends put pressure on him not to get into politics, he later made up his mind not to contest.

The doctor could not be contacted with his mobile phone remaining switched off all day.

The government has accepted the resignation letters of two more SCB hospital doctors who are contesting the polls this time. The two doctors are N. Raghu Murmu and Rajashri Mallick. While Murmu is contesting from the Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha seat as BJP nominee, Mallick, an assistant professor of pathology at the medical college, is contesting for the Tirtol Assembly segment on a BJD ticket.

Ten doctors are contesting the elections on tickets of different political parties this time. While Raseswari Panigrahi, a retired obstetrics and gynaecologist from VSS Medical College and Hospital in Burla, is contesting from the Sambalpur Assembly seat on a BJD ticket, Prakash Tripathy, a surgeon at a private hospital in Bargarh, is in the election fray from the Padampur Assembly seat as a Congress nominee. The Congress has fielded Dr Prafulla Majhi from Talsara.

Another physician, Priyanshu Pradhan, is in poll fray as a BJD nominee for the Chhatrapur Assembly segment. The ruling party is fielding eminent physician Dr Kulamani Samal as its nominee from the Jagatsingpur Lok Sabha seat. It is also fielding Dr Pramod Mallick from Niali, Dr Ramesh Chandra Chyau Patnaik from Berhampur and Dr Nrushingha Sahu from Parjanga.

Apart from doctors, people from other sectors including education, engineering and police are also in the fray. While Balabhadra Majhi, an engineer by profession, has been pitted against Congress stalwart Pradeep Majhi in Nabarangpur, Pravas Singh, a curator with the state museum, has been fielded by the BJD from Bargarh.

Last month, Majhi took voluntary retirement from Rail Vikash Nigam Limited. Singh’s resignation has been accepted. Likewise, retired IPS officer Shyam Sunder Hansda is also contesting for the first time as Congress nominee from the Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha seat.