Ex-BJD MP Arka Keshari Deo joins BJP

Bhubaneswar: Former BJD MP Arka Keshari Deo on Wednesday returned to the BJP after a gap of about 10 years, claiming that the saffron party is the ''only outfit which is working for the welfare of people''.

Deo, a member of the Kalahandi royal family, joined the BJP along with his wife Malvika Devi at its State headquarters here in the presence of the party's Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal and other senior leaders.

The former Kalahandi MP said he joined the BJP as he considered that it was the ''only party which has been working for the welfare of people and development of the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policies are being appreciated by all. So, my supporters have suggested that I must switch over to the BJP," he said.

Deo had joined the BJD in 2013 after the demise of his father Bikram Keshari Deo, who was a former BJP MP. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014 from Kalahandi on a BJD ticket.

Deo was denied a ticket in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, following which he resigned from the ruling party

in Odisha.

Sanjukta Singhdeo and Tanmay Singhdeo of the Madanpur-Rampur royal family in Narla of Kalahandi also joined the BJP.

Prominent educationist Sudhansu Sekhar Nayak of Bant block in Bhadrak district switched over to the BJP after quitting the BJD.