New Delhi [India], May 9 : With two senior leaders of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alarm bells have started ringing within the party as their senior leader Jay Panda has said that the ouster reflected a larger resentment among the party cadres and called for immediate attention.
"One gone yesterday, another today. Yet when I cautioned last week, was contradicted. Now large sections unrepresented, resentment everywhr (sic)," Panda tweeted. His reaction came after two senior members of the BJD - Jayaram Pangi and Amar Nayak - joined the BJP.
Both leaders decided to join the BJP after the BJD suffered a humiliating loss in the recently concluded Panchayat elections.
Reports indicate that a section of BJD leaders were inclined to split the party to join the BJP. Earlier, Pradhan said the BJP would welcome "clean and strong" leaders from other parties if they showed commitment to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"We want to strengthen our party. Whoever is committed to the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and party president Amit Shah are welcome to join us.
We will welcome clean and strong leaders," Pradhan told reporters here. While Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik blamed the BJP for fuelling such "false" reports, the BJP instead blamed the internal discord within the regional party and maintained it had no role in it.
The 2017 Panchayat elections conducted for 846 Zilla Parishad seats saw the BJD winning 473 seats and the BJP winning 297.
` The election results forced Naveen Patnaik-led BJD to announce a massive Cabinet reshuffle. As many as 12 ministers were inducted in the Cabinet and 10 ministers were shown the door..
Source: ANI
