Ram Chandra Panda, a former deputy speaker, joins the BJP

Along with hundreds of his followers, former deputy speaker of the Odisha Legislative Assembly Ram Chandra Panda, who had just left the BJD, joined the BJP here on Friday. Panda was returning home after leaving the BJP in January 2017 due to disagreements with the saffron party’s state leadership and joining the regional party.

After the elections, the BJD’s misrule would come to an end, according to state president Manmohan Samal, who welcomed Panda back to the BJP. Samal predicted that the BJP will win both state and federal elections. On this occasion, the BJP was accompanied by local BJD officials, a number of council members, and Pratibha Padhi, the chairman of the Ganjam NAC. Prominent figures in attendance were BJD candidate Pradip Panigrahy for the Berhampur Lok Sabha seat, former state BJP president Samir Mohanty, and others.