Veteran BJP, Cong leaders join BJD ahead of polls

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Sunday successfully wooed two senior leaders from the rival parties — the Congress and the BJP — to its sides, eventually exhibiting the exodus of prominent faces is not limited to his party only.

Senior Congress leader and former minister

Ganeswar Behera and the BJP state vice-president Lekashree Samantasinghar joined the BJD here at the party's state headquarters.

Mr Behera had represented the Pattamundai (SCs) constituency in the Odisha Assembly twice — in 1985 and 1995 — and held the position of minister of state for higher education, food supplies, consumer affairs, public grievances, and pensions

◗ Congress leaders like Chiranjib Biswal, Surendra Singh Bhoi, sitting MLA Adhiraj Panigrahi, ex-MLAs K. Surya Rao and Ansuman Mohanty had already joined the BJD in Odisha

in the Janaki Ballav Patnaik government.

Earlier on April 2, Mr Behera had resigned from the primary membership of the Congress party.

In 2000 and 2004, he lost respectively to Tapas Kumar Das and Kishore Tarai of the BJD. After the delimitation exercise, the Pattamundai Assembly constituency was merged with Kendrapara. In 2009, 2014 and 2019 respectively, he unsuccessfully contested from this seat and lost to the BJD candidates.

In the 2019 polls, Shashi Bhusan Behera of the BJD won the seat by defeating

Ganeswar Behera by a margin of 6,320 votes.

A few other top Congress leaders like Chiranjib Biswal, Surendra Singh Bhoi, sitting MLA Adhiraj Panigrahi, ex-MLAs K. Surya Rao and Ansuman Mohanty had already joined the BJD.

Lekhashree Samantasinghar was eyeing to contest from the Kandhamal parliamentary constituency seat on a BJP ticket.