Samir Ranjan Dash joins BJP after quitting BJD

Bhubaneswar: After resigning from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) amid the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Odisha, Nimapara MLA and former Minister Samir Ranjan Dash joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday.

Dash, a three-time legislator, left the ruling BJD after being denied a party ticket for the 2024 elections. He joined the BJP at a special function in Bhubaneswar, where he was welcomed by senior leaders including state BJP president Manmohan Samal and Odisha election in-charge Vijay Pal Singh Tomar.

In a video message, Dash expressed his disappointment, stating that he had worked diligently for the BJD since 2006 but felt that the leadership had lost confidence in him and the party organizations in Gop and Nimapara. “Therefore, I resigned from the primary membership of the party today,” he said.

Dash has won three consecutive Assembly elections in 2009, 2014, and 2019 from the Nimapara constituency on a BJD ticket. He also served as the School and Mass Education Minister in Naveen Patnaik’s Cabinet.