Athamallik MLA Ramesh Chandra Sai Joins BJP Day After Quitting BJD

Bhubaneswar: Athamallik MLA Ramesh Chandra Sai on Friday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Odisha, just a day after resigning from the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD). Sai’s move comes after being denied a ticket by the BJD for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state. The former BJD member made his allegiance clear in a ceremony attended by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Athamallik today.

Sai, who secured victory in the 2019 Assembly elections on a BJD ticket from Athamallik constituency in Angul district, expressed his reasons for leaving the party in a resignation letter addressed to BJD supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Despite a resounding win in 2019 with a record margin of 47,000 votes, Sai was overlooked by his former party for the 2024 Assembly polls.

Notably, the BJD has nominated Nalini Kant Pradhan, a former Public Works Department secretary, as its candidate for the Athamallik seat. Pradhan, who previously contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Sambalpur constituency in Odisha without success, now steps into the political arena for the BJD in the upcoming state polls.