Chilika, Feb 29: Chilika MLA Prasanta Kumar Jagdev today joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
He joined the saffron party at the party’s office in Bhubaneswar in presence of senior leaders.
It is worth mentioning that Jagdev was suspended from the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on September 8, 2021, hours after he allegedly slapped a BJP leader Niranjan Sethi in full public view in Balugaon of Khordha district.
It was also alleged that the legislator had abused him verbally near the Balugaon NAC office and snatched the mobile phone of a Journalist present at the spot.
The Chilika MLA was also arrested in March 2022 for allegedly ramming his SUV into a crowd of mostly BJP supporters and police personnel outside Banapur block office in Khurda.
Later in July 2022, the Supreme Court granted him bail on the condition that he would not visit his assembly constituency for a year and he was released from Banapur sub-jail.
The court had also ordered Jagdev not to conduct any meetings with more than five people at a time.