Bhubaneswar: Several leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress from Koraput and Puri districts joined Biju Janata Dal (BJD) ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha.
The leaders joined the ruling party at a special programme held at Sankha Bhawan, the BJD state headquarters, in Bhubaneswar. Senior BJD leaders were present at the programme.
Prominent among those who joined the regional party were former BJP candidate for Pottangi
Assembly seat Rama Chandra Pangi and Dilip Nayak, who had contested the Assembly polls from Nimapada constituency in 2019.
Dilip, who was the Congress candidate from Nimapada in 2019, had joined BJP two-and0a-half years ago. However, he quit the saffron party and joined BJD after failing to get ticket from BJP for the upcoming elections.
Similarly, several leaders including Abhiram Hantala joined the regional party after quitting Congress.
BJD MP and party’s national spokesperson Sasmit Patra and former Minister Samir Ranjan Dash said that the regional outfit would be further strengthened with the entry of so many leaders from BJP and Congress.
