big-blow-to-bjd-in-odisha-mp-bhartruhari-mahtab-two-more-join-bjp

Biju Janata Dal founding member and six-time Cuttack Lok Sabha MP Bhartruhari Mahtab joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday, dealing a big blow to the Odisha’s ruling party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

 

Mahtab, 67, joined the BJP in the presence of senior leaders at the party headquarters here.

 

Along with him, former BJD MP Sidhant Mohapatra and noted Santhali language litterateur Damayanti Beshra, who was conferred the Padma Shri in 2020, also joined the BJP in the presence of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, party national vice president Baijayant Jay Panda, party’s Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal and other senior leaders.

 

Addressing a joint press conference here after joining the BJP, Mahtab, son of former chief minister Harekrushna Mahtab, said he will now get the opportunity to work for the development and progress of Odisha.

 

“Prime Minister Modi’s ‘shakti (strength)’, Home Minister’s ‘vishwas (trust)’ and (BJP chief) JP Nadda ji’s ‘prerna (inspiration)’ will help us move forward,” he said.

 

Odisha is going to witness a change due to Prime Minister Modi’s leadership. This change is going to be steered by Home Minister Amit Shah and other senior leaders of the BJP, Mahtab said. “I am going to start a new innings with a new team.” Welcoming them into the party fold, BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde said they have joined as they are “impressed” by Prime Minister Modi’s leadership and his government work in various sectors.

 

They have joined the BJP at a time when Odisha is witnessing a change in the political scenario, Tawde said: “And I am confident that the party, under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, will succeed in bringing the change that people of Odisha want to see in the state."

 

“A wind of change is certainly blowing in Odisha this time. People’s faith in the BJP’s ideals has further strengthened,” she said.

 

A founding member of the BJD, he was elected to Lok Sabha from Cuttack in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019.

 

Contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha polls on a BJD ticket, he had defeated the BJP’s Prakash Mishra with a huge margin of votes.