Speculations rife over BJD MP Baijayant Panda joining BJP
BHUBANESWAR: Amid widespread speculations of BJD’s Lok Sabha member Baijayant Panda joining the BJP, Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said the saffron party is open for all good people.
“All good people are always welcome to the party with open arms. The door of the BJP is open for people who believe in its ideology and in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party’s national president Amit Shah,” Pradhan told reporters when asked about the rumour of Panda’s joining the BJP.
The rumour mill is on the overdrive ever since Panda was removed from the post of spokesman of the BJD’s parliamentary party. However, the Kendrapara MP has been maintaining that he has no intention of leaving the BJD.
Panda, who has been isolated in the BJD for a long time, was in the news recently after he was attacked by party workers owing allegiance to his detractors at Jatiparilo village in Kendrapara district during inauguration of a drinking water project.
Earlier, the Kendrapara MP drew criticism from within the party for his write-up in a vernacular daily advising Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik to “introspect” on the situation in the party after the party’s not-so-good performance in the three-tier panchayat elections.
Talking to this paper, BJD vice-president and Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister S N Patro said he is not in a position to comment on the issue as Panda has neither made any statement nor informed the party anything about joining the BJP.Patro said he came to know about it from a private TV channel. The truth has to be ascertained before making any statement, he added.