New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: A day after resigning from Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Rajya Sabha, prominent tribal leader from Odisha Mamata Mahanta joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)on Thursday.
Sources said Mamata joined the saffron party at BJP headquarters in New Delhi in the presence of senior leaders. BJP national general secretary Arun Singh welcomed her with the party shawl, cap, and bouquet in the presence of party’s Odisha in-charge Vijay Pal Singh Tomar and other leaders.
BJP’s Mayurbhanj MP Ananta Nayak and Odisha Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan, were among other leaders present on the occasion.
While joining the saffron party, Mamata said she was inspired by the ideology of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “I have joined the BJP to serve the people of my state,” she said.
Mamata said she never got an opportunity to serve people when she was in the BJD.
Notably, Mamata, who hails from tribal-dominated Mayurbhanj district, had resigned from the primary membership of the BJD and membership of the Upper House of Parliament on Wednesday.
Vice President and Chairperson of Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankar informed the House on Wednesday that he had received her resignation letter and accepted it with immediate effect.
Mahanta was elected to Rajya Sabha in April 2020 and only 18 months was left for the end of her 6-year term.
Her sudden decision came as a surprise for the regional party. “I feel that there is no requirement of the services of myself as well as my community in the BJD,” she wrote in her letter to BJD president Naveen Patnaik.
