Former BJD Rajya Sabha MP Debashish Samantaray joins BJP

Rajya Sabha MP Debashish Samantaray joined the BJP on Tuesday. A long-time associate of BJD supremo and former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik alleged that he was being "systematically belittled."

The BJD, in response to the politician's political move, said that Debasis Samantray resigned from the party "to pursue his own interests, taking advantage of all the facilities provided by the party."

"Debasis is turning towards the BJP, giving more importance to business interests than the party's expectations," the statement said, mentioning that the BJD had given him a ticket for the fifth time and made him a Rajya Sabha MP. Naveen Patnaik had appointed him as Chairman of OTDC along with various organisational positions.

Political watchers would know that the former BJD Rajya Sabha MP's exit comes months after two other party MPs, Sujeet Kumar and Mamata Mahanta, walked out and got elected to the Rajya Sabha on BJP tickets.