After months of speculation, former BJD MP Baijayant Panda finally joins BJP

Mar 4 (AZINS) Baijayant Jay Panda who quit the BJD last May, has joined BJP today. The development came after Panda met with Amit Shah on Saturday. Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan was also present in the meeting.

The switch may hurt Naveen Patnaik's party in Odisha ahead of the national and state elections, especially with the BJP making inroads into the state.

After joining BJP, Panda said, "In Odisha the governance has very sharply deteriorated in the recent years. The crimes have been rised. The corruption has been reached at high level. Only BJP can protect the state".

Further adding to it, he said, "It took me 20 years to reach here. I accept the leadership of Modi and Shah and believe that it necessary for the development of the country. I look forward for doing best for the Odisha and India under the leadership of Narendra Modiji."

Panda, who fell apart with the BJD chief Naveen Patnaik, had in past said that he was willing to join hands with anybody "committed to tackling the severe problems that Odisha now faces".

Panda had resigned from Odisha’s ruling BJD in May last year four months after he was suspended from the primary membership of the party for “anti-party” activities. He was suspended by BJD Supremo Naveen Patnaik in January last year for allegedly indulging in anti-party activities. After quitting the BJD, Panda on June 12 had tendered his resignation as the Member of Parliament (MP) in the Lok Sabha.