Bhubaneswar: Ahead of crucial elections, senior politician Bijoy Mohapatra, who had quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) four months back returned to the party Thursday.
Mohapatra said he has decided to come back to his party after discussions with BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda and state in-charge Arun Singh, who met him at his residence.
Mohapatra, who had quit the party November 30, 2018, said he had also telephonic conversation with other senior leaders including BJP president Amit Shah.
“As elections are round the corner, we have decided to step up our campaign and fight unitedly to bring about a change in Odisha by defeating the BJD,” the BJP leader told reporters after rejoining the saffron camp.
To a question whether he would contest the polls, Mohapatra said the party will take a decision on the issue. “The priority at present is to further strengthen the organisation to oust the BJD from power in the Odisha,” he said.
Expressing happiness over Mohapatra’s comeback to the BJP, Arun Singh said the aim of the party was to oust the Naveen Patnaik government and ensure another term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre. Describing Bijoy as a “seasoned politician”, Baijayant Panda said the senior leader’s re-entry into the BJP fold would boost the saffron party’s fight against the BJD in Odisha.
Mohapatra along with former Union minister Dilip Ray had resigned from the BJP November 30 last claiming that they had been “sidelined” within the party.Though Ray is yet to join any party, he had met BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik recently.
Asked about Ray’s future course of action, Mohapatra said, “He is now out of state. He will take a decision in this regard.”
The resignation of the two leaders from the BJP had sparked speculation that they might stage a comeback to the ruling BJD, of which both were founding members. While Mohapatra was expelled from the BJD in 2000, Roy was thrown out from the ruling party two years later.
In the 2014 elections, Mohapatra had contested from Mahakalapada Assembly seat in Kendrapara district on a BJP ticket and lost to BJDs Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak. The party may renominate him from the same seat.
Reacting to the development, MLA Atanu Sabyasachi said, “You might have seen how the people of Mahakalapada voted him in 2004, 2009 and 2014. The same thing may repeat once again.”