LS Polls 2024: BJD's Kendrapara MP Anubhav Mohanty, who defeated Jay Panda in 2019, joins BJP

Ahead of crucial Lok Sabha elections, the Biju Janata Dal's sitting MP from Kendrapara Anubhav Mohanty joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday. Mohanty had defeated BJP's Baijayant Jay Panda in the last Lok Sabha elections. Mohanty had secured 628,939 votes (50.87%), while the BJP leader settled with 4,47,456 votes (38.53%). This time, BJD has fielded Anshuman Mohanty against Jay Panda of the BJP.  

After joining the saffron party, Mohanty said he has no complaint against Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. "The reason why I joined the BJP is the pace at which our country is developing. Efforts are being made to make India the number one country in the world. I am deeply inspired by the dynamism that our Prime Minister carries and the bold steps that he takes," he said while speaking to reporters. 

"I considered my leader as a fatherly figure and he will always remain so...There are some reasons for switching parties which I do not wish to share."

Mohanty, a cine star, tendered his resignation from the BJD last week. He said he was "feeling suffocated" in the party for over four years. He was the second sitting BJD MP after Bhartruhari Mahtab to quit the regional party. The Kendrapara MP was seen celebrating Holi with Mahtab in Cuttack.

Mahtab, founding member of BJD and six-time Cuttack Lok Sabha MP, joined the BJP on Thursday. Along with him, former BJD MP Sidhant Mohapatra and noted Santali language litterateur Damayanti Beshra, who was conferred the Padma Shri in 2020, also joined the saffron party in the presence of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and party national vice president Baijayant Jay Panda. 

Mehtab was elected to Lok Sabha from Cuttack in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019. He defeated the BJP's Prakash Mishra with a huge margin of votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.