Odia star Arindam Roy rejoins the BJP, claiming he was denied access to the chief minister

Days before the state’s simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls, well-liked Odia actor-turned-politician Arindam Roy joined the BJP on Friday, dealing a blow to the governing Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

Roy said that after many efforts, he was ignored by the party and denied the opportunity to speak with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

The actor-turned-politician stated, “I tried several times to meet Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik while I was with the BJD,” in an interview with ANI on Friday. Nevertheless, I was unable to see him because of party politics.”

“I have joined the BJP, inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will work hard to strengthen the party in the state,” he said.

At the party headquarters in Bhubaneswar on Friday, Roy and other BJD officials joined the BJP in the presence of Manmohan Samal, the state president of the party.

Earlier on Friday, M. Chuba Ao, the national vice president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, said that the BJD administration in Odisha was deceiving the people of the state by portraying programs as state-sponsored initiatives while feigning credit for them from the federal government.

M. Chuba Ao stated in an interview with ANI, “I was in Odisha and took part in the Labharthi Sampark Abhiyan in Keonjhar. Regretfully, the state’s BJD administration is renaming core programs and passing them off as state-sponsored projects.”
“PM Modi’s outlook extends beyond the next five years, as he has envisioned the country’s development and progress till the year 2047,” Chuba Ao, a former leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, concluded.

There are 21 parliamentary seats in Odisha. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) secured the most seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, with the BJP and the Congress following closely behind.

With 12 seats, the BJD emerged victorious, followed closely by the BJP with 8 seats, and the Congress with only 1 seat.

There are 147 Assembly seats in the state. The BJD won 113 seats in the most recent assembly votes, which were conducted concurrently with the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

With twenty-three seats, the BJP finished far behind with twenty-nine, the Congress with nine, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) with one, and an independent candidate with one seat.