Veteran Odia actress Mahasweta Ray joins BJP

Bhubaneswar: Veteran Odia actress Mahasweta Ray joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) here on Monday.

Mahasweta Ray joined BJP in presence of Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at state party headquarters here.

Ray is one of the most acclaimed actors and the leading woman of Odia cinema industry.

“I joined BJP after being inspired by the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I will work to make Odisha a safer place for women,” said Ray.

Dharmendra Pradhan, who welcomed the Odia actress to the party, said her joining would strengthen the party.

Mahasweta Ray has worked in nearly 100 Odia films and several films in Bengali other languages. In November last year, she had raised a question on the decision of jury members for the 28th State Films Awards. She made her debut in ‘Sesha Shrabana’ in 1976 and bagged state film awards for best actress several times earlier.

On January 20, two Odia film actors-Mihir Das and Anu Choudhury had joined the BJP.

Earlier, several Ollywood actors, including Sritam Das, Pinky Pradhan, Harihar Mohapatra and Ajit Das had joined the BJP after being inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s style of functioning and development agenda.

The BJD has also Odia film actors such as Prashant Nanda, Siddhant Mohapatra, Akash Das Nayak, Elina in its ranks.