Kandhamal MP Pratyusha Rajeswari Surprises All, Joins BJP

Bhubaneswar: Pratyusha Rajeswari Singh, Kandhamal’s BJD MP who recently resigned from the party after being denied a ticket, joined the BJP on Saturday. The news comes as a surprise, given that there had earlier been indications that her talks with the BJP had failed and she was more likely to join the Congress.

Rajeswari formally joined the party at a function at the residence of the leader of the BJP legislature party KV Singhdeo. Among others, BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda, state president Basant Panda and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan were present on the occasion.

Talking to mediapersons later, she said she is willing to contest from Nayagarh Assembly seat. To a question on which party would be her arch-rival, she said it would be the BJD. She, however, made it clear that she will act as per the instructions of the party leadership.

Sources, however, said that the BJP, which is yet to name its candidate for the Kandhamal LS seat, was most likely to field Pratysha as its official candidate.

Wife of former Kandhamal MP, Hemendra Singh, Pratyusha had resigned from the primary membership of the BJD on March 20 after the party leadership fielded Achyut Samant as the candidate for Kandhamal. She had also requested the party chief to consider her name for the Nayagarh Assembly seat but in vain.

A day after her resignation from the BJD, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik had informed the media about her joining the party either on March 23 or 24.

Stating that his party has already announced its candidate for Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat, Patnaik had said it will sincerely consider her request to contest from Nayagarh Assembly seat.