Sethy was elected to the Orissa Legislative Assembly in 1990. He stood as a Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate in the Pattamundai seat, obtaining 35,861 votes (43.96% of the votes in the constituency).[3] He was the sole CPI(M) candidate elected to the assembly.[3] Sethy left the CPI(M), and on 19 September 1991 he requested to be recognised as an independent assembly member. He subsequently joined the Orissa Communist Party, and on 4 March 1992 he requested to be recognised an OCP member in the assembly.[4]
He lost the Pattamundai seat in the 1995 Orissa Legislative Assembly election. He stood as an OCP candidate and finished in third place with 15,493 votes (14.34%).[5] Sethy contested the 2000 Orissa Legislative Assembly election, standing as an independent candidate in Pattamundai. He finished in third place with 13,079 votes (12.88%).[6]
Sethy joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation in 2002.[7] As of 2008, he was an Orissa State Committee member of the CPI(ML) Liberation.[8][9][10] He is also a leader of the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), the labour wing of CPI(ML) Liberation.[11][12] The first Orissa state conference of AICCTU, held in 2008, elected Sethi as the general secretary of its Orissa unit.[13] CPI(ML) Liberation fielded him as its candidate in the Kendrapara constituency in the 2009 Orissa Legislative Assembly election. He finished in fifth place, with 552 votes (0.47%).[1]
