MP quits BJD, joins BJP; second neta to do so in less than 2 months | Bhubaneswar News – Times of India

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BHUBANESWAR: Less than two months after BJD’s Mamata Mohanta quit Rajya Sabha and the party and joined BJP, the Naveen Patnaik-led party suffered another blow with another RS MP Sujeet Kumar resigning from the Upper House and BJD on Friday.
Later, he joined BJP, boosting the party’s prospects of increasing its tally in RS. Sujeet, who joined BJP at an event in Delhi in the presence of Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, said he was fed up with corruption within BJD and the leadership’s reluctance to listen when he tried to bring it to their notice.
Sujeet’s resignation letter from RS, 18 months ahead of his six year-term which is supposed to end on Apr 2, 2026, did not provide any specific reason for his decision to step down. On whether he was promised re-nomination to Rajya Sabha, the lawyer-turned-politician said, “I am ready for whatever responsibility is offered to me.” Pradhan said “Sujeet can make meaningful contributions to BJP’s focus on Viksit Odisha and Viksit Bharat”.
Given that BJP has 78 members in the 147-member Odisha assembly, the party is comfortably placed to win the Rajya Sabha bypoll whenever it is scheduled. BJP currently has 96 members in the 245-member Upper House, including two from Odisha. Pramila Mallik, BJD chief whip in the assembly, said BJP has resorted to conspiracy to break other parties as it is desperate to increase its tally in Rajya Sabha.