Bhubaneswar: Former BJD Bari MLA Sunanda Das, who recently resigned from the regional party, joined BJP on Wednesday.
Sunanda served as MLA from 2019 to 2024 but was not granted a BJD ticket this time for the assembly poll.
State BJP president Manmohan Samal, while welcoming the new members, said the party’s commitment to transforming Odisha into a developed state is attracting more people to its fold. “Organisational strength of the BJP is growing daily. The trust of Odisha’s people in the BJP govt continues to increase,” Samal said.
Among others, Cuttack Urban Cooperative Bank chairman Praful Kumar Mahapatra, former corporator Dharmesh Nayak, BJD state secretary Bijay Behera, besides other BJD and Congress members from Balikuda-Erasama constituency, joined BJP. Functionaries and workers from Sanakhemundi and Basudevpur constituencies, besides many from Nayagarh district, also joined BJP, the party said.