Ahead of Lok Sabha Elections 2024, two Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MPs – Bhartruhari Mahtab and Sidhant Mohapatra – switched teams and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday.
Mahtab, a six-time Cuttack MP, had recently resigned from the BJD. He was representing the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat since 1998.
Along with Mahtab, MP Sidhant Mohapatra and Padma awardee Dr Damayanti Beshra also joined the BJP.
BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP’s Odisha chief Manmohan Samal, and national vice president Baijayant Panda were present at their joining.
Soon after joining the BJP, Mohapatra said , “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s double engine government has to be brought in Odisha.”
Both Beshra and Mohapatra met BJP national president JP Nadda in Delhi after joining the BJP.
Recently, several BJD leaders have quit the party for the BJP.
Among those who resigned were a close relative of BJD organising secretary PP Das and popular Odia actor Arindam Roy.
Another BJD senior tribal leader and former minister Balabhadra Majhi had joined the Congress after alleging that he was neglected and sidelined from the party for the last five years.
The BJP were in talks with BJP over an alliance for the Lok Sabha elections, but it was not seen through.
In the 2014, the BJD emerged as the dominant party, securing 20 out of the 21 seats, while the BJP had won a single seat.
And in 2019, the BJD got the maximum number of seats, followed by the BJP and the Congress. The BJD won 12 seats, the BJP finished a close second at 8 seats and the Congress bagged just a lone seat.
The Lok Sabha elections in Odisha are set to take place in four phases. The voting dates have been scheduled for May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1.
(With agency inputs)
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Published: 28 Mar 2024, 06:39 PM IST
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