Bhubaneswar: In a setback to the Biju Janata Dal, former Dhamnagar MLA Muktikanta Mandal and former Bhadrak MP Manjulata Mandal joined the BJP at the party’s state headquarters today.
They were joined by several other former BJD leaders, including Simulia MLA Subasini Sahu, Shashi Sahu, former Bhadrak municipal councillor Pranaya Das, and a former BJD district president.
Several followers also joined the saffron party in the presence of BJP state president and Rajya Sabha MP Manmohan Samal. Manjulata Mandal was elected from the Bhadrak Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 parliamentary election on a BJD ticket, defeating Avimanyu Sethi of the BJP. However, she was unsuccessful in the 2024 election and lost to Sethi.
Muktikanta Mandal was elected from the Dhamnagar Assembly constituency in the 2014 election. He had defeated Bishnu Charan Sethi of the BJP. The BJD had not nominated him to contest subsequent elections.
