Bhubaneswar: In a big blow to Congress ahead of the Assembly election, former minister and former MLA of Titlagarh Surendra Singh Bhoi who resigned from the primary membership of Congress on Thursday, joined the ruling Biju Janata Dal on Friday.
He joined the ruling party in the presence of MLA Tukuni Sahu and BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra.
On Thursday, Bhoi sent his resignation letter to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) President. Apart from party’s primary membership, he had resigned from the membership of AICC and president of the Bolangir District Congress Committee.
Bhoi was in Congress for the last 38 years. He ended his 38-year-old association with the grand old party on Thursday. He was elected to State Legislative Assembly in 2009 and 2014 on a Congress ticket.
He contested the Titlagarh Assembly seat on a Congress ticket in 2014 and 2019 but lost to BJD candidate Tukuni Sahoo. He was, however, upset after Ashok Nanda was declared adhoc President of Bolangir District wing of Congress.
Earlier, Khariar MLA Adhiraj Mohan Panigrahi and Kendrapara District Congress president Anshuman Mohanty resigned from the primary membership of Congress and joined the ruling party.
