Bhubaneswar: Former BJD leader Rabi Narayan Pani and his supporters on Tuesday joined the BJP, in the presence of Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, at the party headquarters in Bhubaneswar.
An aspirant for the Pallahara Assembly segment seat, Pani had resigned from the primary membership of the BJD on Sunday. He had submitted his resignation letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at Naveen Niwas.
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One among the BJD’s 40 star campaigners till Sunday, the BJD’s Pallahara MLA from 2009 to 2014 was hoping to get a party ticket this time, but the BJD has fielded Mukesh Pal from the seat.
Pani had also been posted as the BJD’s observer for Jharsuguda and Sambalpur districts. From 1989 to 91, he had been a Janata Dal MLA from Debagada.
