Bhubaneswar, March 15: Former Gunupur MLA Trinath Gomango quit Biju Janata Dal(BJD) and joined the Odisha BJP on Saturday before the ensuing general election.
The state BJP formally received Gomango in order to strengthen party’s signature in the South Odisha.
Sources said, Gomango joined the BJP in presence of Odisha state president Manmohan Samal and Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Panigrahi, who was recently inducted into the saffron fold after he was shown the door by the BJD.
Trinath Gamango is a tribal leader of Rayagada who had won the Gunupur Assembly seat in 2014 after joining the BJD in 2009. He, however, resigned from the regional party in March 2019, alleging the party has let him down by organising a rally at Gunupur in Rayagada district in his absence and projecting Raghunath Gomango as his rival.
He contested the 2019 elections as an independent candidate and finished his third innings after Raghunath, who won the seat as a BJD nominee by a huge margin, and Purusottam Gomango of Congress.
