In an attempt to strengthen its position in the coastal belt of the state on election eve, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has roped in one more senior Biju Janata Dal(BJD) rebel, Damodar Rout into the party fold. He was sacked from the Naveen Patnaik led regional outfit last year for anti-party activities.
Rout, a former state minister who was also a close associate of Naveen Patnaik’s father, the late Biju Patnaik joined the BJP at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday. “My principal aim is to throw the Naveen Patnaik led corrupt BJD government out of power”, the veteran leader said after returning to the state capital on Friday.
Earlier this month, another senior BJD rebel from the coastal region, the industrialist-turned-politico, Baijayant Panda had joined the BJP. Panda who was subsequently appointed a national vice-president of the party was present when Rout embraced the saffron brigade in the national capital. Other senior party leaders from Odisha including union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the leader of the BJP’s legislature party in the state assembly K V Singhdeo were also present.
Rout is expected to get a BJP ticket to contest the coming elections from one of the assembly seats in his home coastal district of Jagatsinghpur. In 2014, he was elected to the state assembly from Paradip in the same Jagatsinghpur district on a BJD ticket.
Like Panda, Rout too had made an attempt to form a regional party of his own before joining the BJP but had failed. He was also in touch with Congress.