Bhubaneswar: A day after most exit polls predicted BRS’s loss in Telangana election, former Koraput MP Jayaram Pangi dumped the regional party led by K Chandrashekar Rao and joined the Congress with his supporters in Bhubaneswar on Saturday.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Sarat Pattanayak and senior leaders were present at the joining ceremony which was seen as a boost to the grand old party ahead of 2024 twin elections in Odisha.
Former MLA from Talsara Ranjit Bhatria and his followers also joined Congress. Bhatria was earlier a member of BJD. Several BJD and BJP leaders from Sundargarh, Keonjhar, Kendrapada, Nabarangpur, Koraput and Kandhamal districts also joined the hand party on the occasion.
Apart from Pattanayak, former PCC chiefs Niranjan Patnaik and Prasad Harichandan were present on the occasion. They expressed hope that Pangi will play a significant role in strengthening Congress in Koraput and other tribal-dominated areas of the state.
Speaking on the occasion, the former Koraput MP said, “Congress is the most preferred party of the tribal people of Odisha and will come to power in the state.” He also spoke about BSR failing to spread base in Odisha.
A four-time MLA from Pottangi, Pangi won the Koraput Lok Sabha seat on a BJD ticket in 2009 but joined the BJP in 2017. He lost to Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka of Congress in 2019 Lok Sabha election and quit the saffron party in 2022. He then joined BRS at Hyderabad in the presence of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao along with former chief minister Giridhar Gamang and his son Shishir in January this year.
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