Odisha Elections 2024: Odia Actor Zeena Samal Joins BJD After Quitting BJP Over ‘Ticket Denial’

Bhubaneswar: Odia actor Zeena Samal on Friday joined from BJD within hours of quitting the BJP after allegedly being denied a MLA ticket for the upcoming elections in Odisha.

She was inducted into the Conch fold in the presence of Rajya Sabha member Sasmit Patra at Sankha Bhawan in Bhubaneswar.

“The BJD has immense respect for women and by joining the party, I would like to be part of the development process initiated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik,” she told the presser.

Zeena and her husband Rudra Panigrahi had joined the BJP in March 2023. She had been lobbying for a ticket from Bhograi Assembly constituency in Balasore but the saffron party declared Ashish Patra as its candidate from the seat on Thursday. The 3-time sarpanch and director of Bhadrak-Balasore Central Cooperative Bank, he had resigned from Congress a week back and joined the BJP on Wednesday.

In her resignation letter to state BJP president Manmohan Samal, the actor wrote: I have given my sweat and blood to the Bharatiya Janata Party for the last few years. However, despite all the sincerity and hard work, I could not earn the trust of the
leadership. Hence, I feel there is nothing left for me to do here and my desire to serve the people of Odisha is being hampered.”

Earlier, Varsha Priyadarshini had joined the BJD, which also nominated her from Barchana Assembly seat in Jajpur district, denying the ticket to the sitting six-time MLA and former minister Amar Prasad Satapathy.

Prior to this, the BJD had witnessed an exodus of actors-turned-politicians with Kendrapada MP Anubhav Mohanty, former Korei MLA Akash Dasnayak and Arindam Ray, the brother-in-law of Pranab Prakash Das, quitting the party in quick succession.

The BJD has already announced candidates for all 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats in Odisha.