Bhubaneswar: Senior tribal leader and former MLA from Malkangiri Mukunda Sodi resigned from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Sunday, ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha.
According to sources, Sodi sent his resignation letter to BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He resigned from the primary membership of the regional party, citing negligence and disrespect within the party ranks.
Sodi is likely to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) soon, sources said.
The tribal leader won as an MLA from Malkangiri constituency in 2009 on a BJD ticket. In 2014, he was denied the party ticket. In 2019, he again contested on a BJD ticket but he lost to the BJP candidate.
Notably, three sitting MLAs – Arabinda Dhali, Pradeep Panigrahi and Prasant Jagadev – joined the saffron party in the state during the last two weeks.
Chilika MLA Prashant Jagdev, who had been expelled from BJD, joined BJP on February 29.
After joining the saffron party, Jagdev reportedly said that a massive transformation is taking place in the country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. There will also be a transformation in Odisha and BJD will transform into BJP, he said, claiming that many BJD leaders will join the BJP soon.
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