Bhubaneswar: Khariar MLA Adhiraj Mohan Panigrahi, who had resigned from the primary membership of Congress by sending his resignation letter to PCC president Sarat Pattnayak on Tuesday, joined the ruling Biju Janata Dal on Wednesday.
According to sources, Adhiraj joined the ruling party in the presence of senior leaders including organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das and Manas Mangaraj at the BJD headquarters here on Friday. Apart from Adhiraj, three block chairmen, 40 sarpanchs and 34 Panchayat Samiti members joined BJD. The ruling party MPs Manas Mangaraj and Snehangini Chhuria welcomed Adhiraj to the party.
Panigrahi, who had been serving the Congress party for the last 25 years, said that the party has weakened. The party is not in a good condition now.
He had contested the Assembly election from Khariar constituency on a Congress ticket in 2019 and won the poll by defeating his nearest candidate Lambodar Nial of BJD.
Earlier, Rajnagar MLA Ansuman Mohanty joined the BJD after quitting the Congress.
