Bhubaneswar, March 20 -- Khariar MLA Adhiraj Mohan Panigrahi, who quit Congress yesterday, joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) at the Sankha Bhawan here, today.

Panigrahi joined the ruling party in the presence of several senior leaders of the BJD, including Pranab Prakash Das, Snehangini Chhuria and Manas Mangaraj.

Besides Panigrahi, as many as 40 sarpanches and 34 Panchayat Samiti members joined the BJD on the occasion.

Panigrahi, who was with the Congress for the last 25 years, tendered his resignation from the party on Tuesday saying that the Congress has weakened.

He had successfully contested the 2019 Assembly Polls from Khariar constituency as a Congress candidate by defeating BJD's Lambodar Nial.

Published by HT Digital Content ...