Bhubaneswar: Four-time former MLA Chiranjib Biswal and Nilagiri MLA Sukanta Nayak on Sunday joined the ruling party BJD in Odisha.
Biswal was inducted into the regional party in the presence of Rajya Sabha members Sasmit Patra and Manas Mangaraj, during a joining ceremony at BJD’s headquarters, Shankha Bhawan, here.
Son of Congress stalwart Basant Kumar Biswal, Chiranjib submitted his resignation letter to Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Sarat Pattanayak on Saturday, dealing a blow to the party’s prospects in Jagatsinghpur district.
Chiranjib was elected to the assembly on a Congress ticket from Tirtol in 2004 and Jagatsinghpur in 2014. He, however, was suspended along with Barabati-Cuttack MLA Mohammed Moquim on July 15, 2023 ,for alleged anti-party activities.
While their suspension was revoked on January 23, Chiranjib kept himself away from party affairs. His absence during announcement of the party’s manifesto for the upcoming elections in the state had already set off speculations about the former MLA quitting the party and joining BJD.
The Congress earlier received a setback when former MLA Anshuman Mohanty quit the party on February 14 and joined BJD two days later. Mohanty, whom BJD nominated as its MP candidate for Kendrapada, had won from Rajnagar assembly constituency in 2014. He, however, lost the seat to BJD’s Dhruba Sahoo in 2019.
Nayak had won his first Assembly election as a BJD candidate from Nilagiri constituency in Balasore district in 2014. He, however, dumped the BJD ahead of 2019 elections after the party inducted ex-BJP leader Sushamarani Biswal, who had unsuccessfully fought the 2014 assembly election against him from Nilgiri, and retained the seat as a saffron party candidate. He defeated BJD’s Santosh Khatua by a margin of 1,577 votes in 2019.
Earlier, four BJD MLAs—Pradeep Panigrahy (Gopalpur), Prasanta Kumar Jagadev (Chilika), Arabinda Dhali (Jayadev) and Premananda Nayak (Telkoi) had joined BJP. Saturday again saw a sitting MP, two former MLAs quitting BJD while a former Congress legislator joined the regional party.
Actor-turned-Kendrapada MP Anubhav Mohanty resigned from the Naveen Patnaik-led regional party, stating that he felt suffocated in the party over the past four years. The BJD has dropped Anubhav from Kendrapada Lok Sabha contest and nominated former Congress MLA Anshuman Mohanty from the constituency this time.
Since he mentioned in the resignation letter that he would never quit politics, speculation is rife that he may join the BJP. Former BJD MLA Priyadarshi Mishra, son-in-law of five-time former MP Prasanna Patasani, also resigned from BJD and joined the BJP hours later.
Actor politician Akash Dasnayak has also quit the Conch party over his self-respect and respect of the people of Korei, the assembly seat which he represented from 2014-2019.
The BJD, however, got a shot in the arm when former Congress MLA K Surya Rao joined the regional party. Rao was elected to the state Assembly from Paralakhemundi in 2014. He fought the 2019 elections from the seat but lost to BJP’s K Narayana Rao.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.