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Former Odisha Congress MLA Anshuman Mohanty, who joined Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Friday after serving for a decade in the grand old party, said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's vision of a new Odisha and his pro-poor activities prompted his switchover.
The switchover was seen as a significant development ahead of the Assembly elections in the state. After formally joining the ruling party in the state, Mohanty visited the chief minister at his residence. Mohanty was elected an MLA from Rajnagar and served the people of his constituency from 2014 to 2019. He, however, lost the 2019 general election to BJD's Dhruba Sahoo. "I have the highest regards for all the Congress workers and leaders. I was with the Congress for a long time, starting from 2013 till yesterday. However, considering the development that has been brought about in Odisha, the exemplary leadership of the chief minister, his work, dedication and his vision of a new Odisha and pro-poor activities, I decided to join the BJD," Mohanty said. Earlier, in a blow to the Congress ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, three prominent leaders and party old-timers in Maharashtra--Ashok Chavan, Milind Deora and Baba Siddique--left the grand old party last month. Amid a flurry of exits, media reports have surfaced that Congress old-timer and former Union Minister Kamal Nath may switch sides and gravitate to the BJP. The arrival of Kamal Nath and his MP son Nakul Nath at Delhi airport on Saturday added further grist to rumours of their impending exit from the Congress. Earlier, a post by former Congress leader and BJP state spokesperson, Narendra Saluja, on X ahead of Kamal Nath's arrival in Delhi, added to the buzz that he was poised to change his political stripes. Saluja on Saturday posted an image of Kamal Nath with Nakul Nath, captioning it as 'Jai Shree Ram'. Several news reports claimed the current Chhindwara MP, Nakul Nath, removed 'Congress' from his bio on his social media handles. However, there was no official confirmation of the same. It was later claimed that he never mentioned Congress in his bio on his social media handles. (ANI)
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