Bhubaneswar: Party Hopping has begun before Pancantan polls in the state with former Kotpad Mla Chandra Sekhar Majhi joined BJD, along with hundreds of supporters, on Wednesday.
Majhi, a popular tribal face from Coraput Regency, resigned from Congress a day ago with personal reasons.
It came as a big setback to the ‘old’ party.
Majhi represents the constituency of the Kotpad Council in the State Assembly in 2014 to 2019.
Although Kotpad is considered a congress bastion, the powerful BJD seizes a seat for the first time in the 2019 Assembly when Majhi was defeated by BJD Padmini Dian by narrow margins.
Dian is currently the minister of handlooms and handicrafts in the Government of Naveen Patnaik.
Before 2014, Basudev Majhi Congress had won from the Kotpad assembly chair for eight times.
On Wednesday, the Secretary of the BJD Organization Pranab Prakash Das, Senior BJD MLA Pratap Deb, Minister of Handlooms and Textiles and several other senior leaders welcomed Majhi into the fold of BJD.
“People from our constituencies want further development, carried out by the BJD government.
I will serve the party as a member of the discipline and accept whatever responsibilities will be given by leadership,” Majhi said after joining the ruling party.
He refused to comment on whether the dispute at the Coraput Congress unit was the reason behind the way out of the party.
As a party preparing for Pancrayat polls scheduled for early next year, many political leaders are expected to switch sides.
People in BJD said parties relate to several potential leaders of other parties in various districts to take them into their folds.
Ahead of the Three-level Panchayat poll, BJD has planned to strengthen its base in the coraput, where Congress is still a dominant force with more than 30% voting.
More local Congress leaders from the district tend to turn to BJD in carrying out Pancayat polls.
The State Government has begun prepared for Pancrayat polls with the passing of the Bill Odisha Law (Amendment) Bill, 2021 in the recent state assembly to limit a total reservation of 50%.