Huge blow to Congress, Odisha Opposition leader joins BJD

Bhubaneshwar: In a major blow to the Congress, Odisha's CLP leader and leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh has joined the Biju Janata Dal. Another senior Congress MLA Anup Sai has also joined the BJD.

The announcement was made by the BJD President and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at his residence Naveen Niwas in Bhubaneshwar.

For the past few weeks, there were reports that Bhupinder will join BJD after he was apparently denied a Lok Sabha ticket by the Congress from Kalahandi, where the Congress senior leader Bhakta Charan Das is a sitting MP.

Bhupinder has, however, denied the reports. In the past two weeks, at least six senior Congress leaders in Odisha have joined the BJD.