Old guards of BJD on a quitting spree, another LS MP joins BJP

By-Manish Kumar

Bhubaneswar: The old guards and veterans of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha now seem to be on a quitting spree just months before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as many incumbent Lok Sabha MPs seemed to have got the signals of denial of tickets to them.

The recent among them was the Lok Sabha MP from Nabarangpur in Odisha—Balabhadra Majhi who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the party headquarter in New Delhi in the presence of Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, recently joined media baron, industrialist and former BJD MP Baijayant Panda and state BJP Chief Basant Panda.

After joining the saffron party, Majhi said, “As an MP I had done a lot of works for Nabarangpur and its development like bringing in rail lines to the area. However in the past few days I was not invited for local party meetings. Many other things happening around me in the party was insulting in nature which forced to me to take this decision.”

Majhi is however not alone in the quitting spree. Recently former BJD leader and ex-MP from Kendrapara in Odisha Baijayant Panda joined the BJP and was soon elevated as the National Vice President of BJP by the party president Amit Shah.

Dhenkanal MP from Odisha Tathagata Satpathy also this month announced not contesting elections. Other MLAs like Nilgiri MLA Sukanta Nayak also tendered his resignation on Friday citing mental harassment. Former controversial BJD leader Damodar Rout also joined the saffron party Friday in New Delhi.

The all development come when the Odisha Chief Minister and BJD Chief Naveen Patnaik has hinted at introducing new faces and more women candidates. The CM this month claimed to reserve around 33 per cent Lok Sabha seats for women candidates.    

Khanduri Jr joins Cong, give jitters to BJP

Former Uttarakhand chief minister BC Khanduri’s son Manish Khanduri on Saturday joined the Congress formally. Manish was welcomed into the party by Congress national president Rahul Gandhi during a political rally in Dehradun. 

Rahul said that Manish Khanduri has come to the Congress today because his patriot father was insulted by the BJP.

He raised serious questions about BJP's nationalism but also putting Modi Government in the dock. Rahul asked the BJP questions about why the patriot former CM Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri was removed from the the Defense Committee of the Parliament. He said in the rally of Parade Ground of Dehradun that the Defense Committee had to pay for the correct report. Rahul said that Maj Gen Khanduri’s only crime was that he gave the truth to the lack of resources in the army in front of the country. Prime Minister Modi couldn’t accept it and he directly removed Khanduri as president of the Defense Committee of Parliament. Rahul Gandhi said that General Sahib is from another party, but there is no problem in calling him a desh bhakt because he has served the country by staying in the armed forces for his life. I welcome Manish Khanduri from the Congress Party.

On this occasion, Manish Khanduri said that before joining the Congress his dad asked him two things: “General Saheb asked me if I would be serving honestly, then I said, yes. Then he asked me if I would fulfill my duty with fearlessness for which I agreed.”

Manish Khanduri said in the Parade Ground rally that the way his father served the nation, he will also serve the democracy Rahul Gandhi’s leadership and make it stronger.