Bhubaneswar, 6 December (H.S.): In a significant setback to the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Bhadrak district, three close family members of veteran leader and former Minister Prafulla Samal including his two sons joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday.

Samal’s sons, Prayaskanti Samal and Pranitkanti Samal, along with his sister Urmila Nayak, formally joined the BJP at the party’s state headquarters in Bhubaneswar. They were welcomed into the party by BJP Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal and other senior leaders.

Prayaskanti, a former chairperson of Bhadrak Municipality and a former state secretary of the BJD, had resigned from the party in May this year. Urmila Nayak, currently the chairperson of Bhadrak Sadar Panchayat Samiti, had also stepped down from the BJD earlier this week, along with chairpersons of three other blocks.

Political observers view these high-profile departures as a major jolt to the BJD’s organisational strength in Bhadrak ahead of key political developments in the state.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda