- By Aashish Vashistha
- Thu, 28 Mar 2024 03:48 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
With Lok Sabha elections just around the corner, six-time Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, who recently resigned from the primary membership of the Naveen Patnaik-led party, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday. The Cuttack MP resigned from the BJP on March 22.
#WATCH | Delhi: Bhartruhari Mahtab joins the BJP. The MP from Cuttack resigned from the BJD on March 22. pic.twitter.com/1X8d8NFT0P— ANI (@ANI) March 28, 2024
Along with Mahtab, Padma awardee Dr Damayanti Beshra and former BJD leader Sidhant Mohapatra also joined the BJP.
#WATCH | Padma awardee Dr Damayanti Beshra and former BJD leader Sidhant Mohapatra join Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhi pic.twitter.com/zSR0PIYUSR
— ANI (@ANI) March 28, 2024
Bhartruhari, son of Odisha's previous Chief Minister Harekrushna Mahtab, has held the prestigious Cuttack parliamentary seat since 1998. He also served as BJD’s floor leader in Lok Sabha from 2014 to 2019.
He also bagged the prestigious Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in 2017. Mahtab was also conferred with Sansad Ratna awards in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 and is currently serving as the chairperson of the Parliament Standing Committee on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development.
“My decision to snap my umbilical cord with BJD may be harsh but it has given me immense relief. This is because I had been living with a kind of pain. When it became unbearable, I took the decision,” Bhartruhari said after snapping ties with the BJP.
