Day after quitting RS & BJD, Samantaray joins BJP

Bhubaneswar: Just a day after resigning from BJD and Rajya Sabha, Debashish Samantaray on Tuesday joined BJP, following in the footsteps of his former party colleagues Mamata Mohanta and Sujeet Kumar.BJP sources said 66-year-old Samantaray is likely to be re-nominated to the seat he vacated to re-enter the Upper House as a BJP candidate in the ensuing bypoll, repeating similar moves the party had taken for Mamata and Sujeet.He joined the party in New Delhi in the presence of state BJP president Manmohan Samal besides party’s national general secretary Odisha in-charge Vijaypal Singh Tomar. “Inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s work and leadership, I have joined the BJP. With the support of party workers, I will work to strengthen the organisation in Odisha,” Samantaray said.Expressing gratitude, he added, “I thank the party for welcoming me into the world’s largest democratic organisation.” Welcoming him, Samal said Samantaray’s entry would bolster the party in the state. “He is an experienced leader, a three-time former MLA, and comes from a politically active family. His induction will further strengthen the BJP,” he said.Samantaray later met BJP national president Nitin Nabin, chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi, and Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Jual Oram, along with other party leaders in New Delhi. In a post on X, Pradhan said “Samantaray’s joining would further strengthen the party’s organisational base.”BJD spokesperson and media coordinator Lenin Mohanty said Samantaray has been an opportunist who switched party to further his narrow political and business interests.