BHUBANESWAR: In a blow to the State Congress ahead of the panchayat polls early next year, former Bonai MLA Bhimsen Choudhury, a general secretary of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC), joined the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Tuesday with hundreds of his supporters.
Choudhury was elected to Assembly on a BJP ticket from Bonai. However, he was suspended from the BJP after he fell out with the State leadership of the party. He contested the last elections from Bonai Assembly constituency unsuccessfully.
Choudhury joined BJD in presence of BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the party headquarters here. Several elected panchayat representatives from the area including the vice-chairman of Zilla Parishad joined BJD with Choudhury.
Minister of State for Steel and Mines Prafulla Mallik, former ministers Mangala Kissan, Sharada Nayak and Subrat Tarai were present.
More than a hundred panchayat-level Congress leaders including former chairman of Angul panchayat samiti Kailash Chandra Sahu and former Zilla Parishad member of Athmallik block Bharat Chandra Sahu had joined BJD at Naveen Nivas on Monday in presence of the CM.
The CM welcomed all Congress leaders who joined BJD and advised them to work for strengthening the party organisation at the grassroots level. Former minister Sanjib Kumar Sahu said the joining of Congress workers in BJD will help the party during the panchayat polls.