Former BJD MPs Bhartruhari Mahtab, Sidhant Mohapatra join BJP

Six-time Cuttack MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, who recently resigned from the BJD and has been representing the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat since 1998.

Meanwhile, Damayanti Beshra joined the BJP at the party's national headquarters here in the presence of party national general secretary Vinod Tawde, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP's Odisha chief Manmohan Samal, and national vice president Baijayant Panda.

After joining the BJP, Sidhant Mohapatra said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's double engine government has to be brought in Odisha."

Meanwhile, soon after joining the BJP, Padma awardee Dr Damayanti Beshra and former BJD leader Sidhant Mohapatra met BJP national president JP Nadda in Delhi.

In the recent past, several BJD leaders have quit the party for the BJP. Among those who resigned were a close relative of BJD organising secretary PP Das and popular Odia actor Arindam Roy who resigned last week and joined the BJP.

Another BJD senior tribal leader and former minister Balabhadra Majhi alleged that he was neglected and sidelined for the last five years and joined Congress.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Odisha, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) emerged as the dominant party, securing 20 out of the 21 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a single seat.

Odisha has 21 parliamentary constituencies. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) got the maximum number of seats, followed by the BJP and the Congress. The BJD won 12 seats, the BJP finished a close second at 8 seats and the Congress bagged just a lone seat.

The Lok Sabha elections in Odisha, which comprise 21 constituencies, are set to take place in four phases. The voting dates have been scheduled for May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. (ANI)