Bhubaneswar: Former MLA and ex-Congress leader Chakradhar Paika joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) along with his supporters in presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the latter’s residence here Thursday.
Speaking to the media after the joining, Paika said, “I was with Biju Babu’s Utkal Congress party in 1974 and got elected to the state Assembly on his party ticket. As I am in the last phase of my political career, I want to serve the people of Mohana as a BJD member. That is why I joined BJD.”
Asked if he will contest in the forthcoming Assembly elections, Paika replied, “My party and its leader will take a decision in this regard. I have joined the BJD without any condition. I will take up whatever responsibility the party bestows on me.”
However, the former MLA said that he left the Congress denied him a ticket to contest the Assembly election in 2014.
Paika was elected to the state Assembly from Ramgiri constituency in 1974 as a candidate of the Utkal Congress party. Later in 2009, he was elected from Mohana constituency as a Congress candidate. Since the Congress did not give him the ticket in 2014 Assembly elections, he contested from Mohana as an Independent candidate and lost.