Ex-BJD MPs Mahtab, Sidhant join BJP

Bhubaneswar: Biju Janata Dal’s founding member and six-time Cuttack Lok Sabha member Bhartruhari Mahtab joined the BJP in New Delhi on Thursday.

Along with him, former BJD MP Sidhant Mohapatra and noted Santali 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 Panda and other senior leaders.

After joining the BJP, Mahtab said he will now get the opportunity to work for the progress of Odisha. Odisha is ''going to'' witness a ''change'' due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, he added. Mahtab had resigned from the primary membership of the BJD last Friday.

Sidhant Mohapatra said, "Prime Minister Modi's double engine government has to be brought in Odisha."