Bhubaneswar, Jul 1: In a significant political development, several senior leaders of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), including former Bhadrak MP Manjulata Mandal, former Dhamnagar MLA Muktikanta Mandal, and former BJD state secretary Shashi Kumar Sahu, formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday.

They joined the BJP at a joining ceremony held at the party state headquarters in Bhubaneswar in the presence of BJP state president and Rajya Sabha MP Manmohan Samal and other senior party leaders.

Samal welcomed the new members by presenting party scarves and caps. He said the BJP, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, has emerged as the world’s largest political party and continues to attract leaders and workers across India.

Alongside the senior leaders, hundreds of BJD workers from Bhadrak district’s Basudevpur, Chandbali, Tihidi, and Dhamnagar blocks also switched allegiance to the BJP. Prominent figures such as former Bhadrak district BJD president Jagannath Swain, former Simulia Assembly candidate Subasini Sahu, and several local leaders joined the saffron party.

The wave of defections extended beyond Bhadrak. In Bhubaneswar district unit of the BJD, former BJD women’s general secretary Rubina Parida, ex-corporator Nirmal Raut, and several social activists joined the BJP. In Nayagarh district’s Khandapada constituency, Panchayat Samiti members Balgopal Sadangi and Tapan Mahapatra, along with their supporters, shifted to the BJP. Similarly, in Ganjam’s Khallikote constituency, Zilla Parishad member Sonam Polai and senior leader Srikant Swain led a group of BJD leaders and workers into the BJP fold.
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Addressing the gathering, Samal said Odisha holds immense potential and reiterated Prime Minister Modi’s vision of making the state a leading contributor to India’s development by 2047. He added that Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi is committed to building a prosperous Odisha by 2036, urging collective efforts to achieve this goal.

The event was attended by senior BJP leaders including MP Anita Subhadarshini Patnaik, chief whip Saroj Pradhan, MLAs Pratap Chandra Nayak and Saroj Sethi, and several state office bearers.