Former BJP Leader Rajkishore Das Joins BJD

Bhubaneswar: Two days after putting an end to his 40-year-old association with the BJP, senior leader Rajkishore Das joined the ruling BJD on Monday.

He formally joined the Conch party along with his supporters during an induction programme at the party’s headquarters in the presence of BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Rajkishore, who was the state vice-president of BJP and a political heavyweight in Mayurbhanj district, had renounced the post and resigned from the primary membership of the party on Saturday.

According to sources, Das was an aspirant for Morada assembly seat in Mayurbhanj, from where his had lost to BJD’s Praveen Chandra Bhanjdeo in 2014 elections, but was overlooked by BJP.