Bhubaneswar: The nine BJD councillors from Keonjhar Municipality, including Vice-Chairman Barada Prasanna Das, who have resigned from the party’s primary membership, are expected to join the BJP on Monday.
The formal induction will take place at a programme in Bhubaneswar in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who also represents the Keonjhar Sadar constituency, according to sources.
The councillors attributed their resignations to dissatisfaction with the party’s current leadership and its ideological shift. Along with the councillors, Subhendra Pattnayak, Das, and Sarat Kumar Sahu (Ward 1 councillor) also stepped down from their roles as general secretaries. They formally submitted resignation letters to BJD state president Naveen Patnaik on Sunday, with copies marked to the district leadership.
Das cited the BJD’s recent alignment with Congress during Rajya Sabha elections as a key trigger. “We were a non-Congress political party. The BJD aligned with the Congress in the Rajya Sabha elections. Now the ideology of the party has changed. It has become a private property,” he stated.
The other councillors, who resigned, include Abhinash Mishra (Ward 7), Dayanidhi Patra (Ward 8), Padmini Patra (Ward 10), Bhagwan Naik (Ward 15), Sabita Patnaik (Ward 16), Hemant Kumar Pati (Ward 21), and Karuna Kar Marandi (Ward 12).
BJD district president Ashish Chakravarthy, however, downplayed the impact, noting that any internal differences could have been resolved internally. He said the resignations might cause a temporary setback but would not have a long-term effect on the party, with state leadership set to review the letters.
In the last municipal elections, BJD secured 13 of the 21 wards in Keonjhar, while BJP won the remaining eight. Despite the numerical minority, BJP’s Niku Sahu won the chairperson post in direct elections, with BJD holding the vice-chairperson position. If the defectors formally switch to BJP, the party could retain or strengthen its hold on the vice-chairman post, potentially tilting the balance further ahead of future civic polls, according to political analysts.
Even as BJD continues to face internal rumblings and defections since 2024 elections debacle, the move is viewed as a strategic gain for the ruling BJP in the mineral-rich Keonjhar district.
