Simarani Nayak Joins BJP, 6th Sitting BJD MLA To Switch To Saffron Camp

Bhubaneswar: A day after snapping ties with BJD, Hindol MLA Simarani Nayak joined the BJP at the party office in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday evening.

She was inducted into the saffron fold in the presence of state BJP president Manmohan Samal, ex-president Samir Mohanty and Odisha election in-charge Vijaypal Singh Tomar.

Simarani resigned from the primary membership of BJD on Monday, hours after being replaced with Dhenkanal MP Mahesh Sahu from Hindol, joining the long list of legislators, including Arabinda Dhali (Jaydev), Premananda Nayak (Telkoi), Ramesh Chandra Sai (Athamallick) and Parsuram Dhada (Soro), who quit the ruling party ahead of the twin elections in Odisha.

Dhali, Nayak, Sai have also switched over to saffron camp.

Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Kumar Panigrahy, Chilka MLA Prasanta Jagdev, who were expelled from the BJD over various charges, have also joined the BJP in the recent past.

In her resignation letter to BJD president Naveen Patnaik, Simarani cited personal problems as the reason behind her move. “I worked for the BJD for around 10 years, but my efforts were weighed against money. I have no money, no mines, and no industry. Therefore, I was not given a ticket to contest the upcoming polls,” alleged the two-term MLA.

Two BJD MPs Bhartruhari Mahtab and Anubhav Mohanty have also quit the party and joined the BJP.

Odisha will vote in the Lok Sabha elections and assembly polls simultaneously in four phases, starting on May 13.