Former Malkangiri MLA & Telkoi MLA likely to join BJP soon

Bhubaneswar: Senior tribal leader and former MLA from Malkangiri Mukunda Sodi and Telkoi MLA and former minister Premananda Nayak are likely to join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha. Sodi resigned from the BJD on Sunday.

According to sources, Sodi sent his resignation letter to BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He resigned from the primary membership of the regional party, citing negligence and disrespect within the party ranks.

The tribal leader won as an MLA from Malkangiri constituency in 2009 on a BJD ticket. In 2014, he was denied the party ticket. In 2019, he again contested on a BJD ticket but he lost to the BJP candidate.

Similarly, Telkoi MLA is reported to be getting ready to join BJP very soon. As per reports, the senior leader from Keonjhar district is likely to join BJP in the presence of senior saffron party leaders at a ‘Misran Parba’ on Monday.

After resigning from BJD recently, Nayak had told the media that he felt sidelined in the regional party. “I was denied access to CM and could not meet him to raise my concerns about the party. We were not happy with inclusion of a former ‘defeated’ Congress leader in BJD before the Panchayat election. It affected the unity in the party and led to factionalism. I tried to raise this issue but in vain. Following which, I decided to quit the party,” he said.

Notably, former Champua MLA Dhanurjay Sidu had joined the BJD in Bhubaneswar about 6-7 months before the Panchayat elections. He was the BJP candidate from Telkoi in 2019 elections and had lost to Nayak by almost 6000 votes. Sidu is believed to have started a parallel organisation within the party, leading to discontent.