BHUBANESWAR: Kandhamal MP and former BJD leader Pratyusha Rajeswari Singh on Saturday joined BJP in presence of senior party leaders including State president Basant Panda, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and legislature party leader KV Singh Deo.
Claiming that she joined BJP as she was inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah, Pratyusha said she will continue to serve the people of Nayagarh.“My target is to defeat BJD,” Pratyusha said after joining the saffron party at the residence of Singh Deo.
Pratyusha who resigned from the BJD on Wednesday after being denied renomination from the Parliamentary seat which she represented following the death of her husband Hemendra Singh had expressed her interest to join the Congress. In fact, she had a discussion with Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik and was likely to join the party on Saturday or Sunday. As the Congress had announced candidate for Kandhamal Lok Sabha, she was offered to fight either from Nayagarh Assembly seat or Puri Parliamentary constituency. Since she was keen to contest from Kandhamal once again, the BJP proposal came handy, sources said.
While candidate for Kandhamal seat has not been announced by the BJP, names of several aspirants are making the rounds for the seat. Even though it is still unclear whether the BJP will field Pratyusha from Kandhamal or Nayagarh, the sitting MP said she has left the decision on the party. However, she reiterated that she wants to serve the people of Nayagarh indicating her preference for the Assembly seat.
The Kandhamal MP had accused Nayagarh MLA Arun Sahu of harassing her and also alleged interference of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bikram Keshari Aruka for denial of her ticket from the seat.