Bhubaneswar, May 26: Former BJD MP Debashish Samantaray joined the BJP on Tuesday, a day after he resigned from Rajya Sabha and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

Samantaray joined the BJP at New Delhi in the presence of BJP national general secretary Arun Singh, party Odisha in-charge Vijay Pal Singh Tomar and party Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal and BJP chief spokesperson Anil Baluni.

Baluni reflected on the political background and experience of Samantaray.

"As you know, a prominent leader of the BJD, Debasish Samantaray ji, resigned from the party as well as from his Rajya Sabha membership yesterday and is joining the BJP family today. We warmly welcome Debashish Samantaray ji into the Bharatiya Janata Party family. As you all know, he resigned from the Rajya Sabha yesterday and also from the BJD. Debasish Samantaray ji has been a three-time MLA. He is a leader deeply connected to the grassroots and has worked at a very significant level in Odisha politics. Previously, from 2000 to 2004, he was elected from the Tirtol Assembly constituency in Odisha, and from 2009 to 2019, he served twice as a member of the Odisha assembly from the Barabati-Cuttack constituency. He has also been the Chairman of the Odisha Tourism Development Corporation and has significantly contributed to various fields like folk art, culture, and poverty alleviation in Odisha. We are delighted to welcome him into the BJP today," said Baluni.

Notably, in a big jolt to the BJD, Samantaray, a senior leader and a long-time loyalist of party president and former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, resigned from the primary membership of the BJD as well as from his Rajya Sabha seat on Monday.

Samantaray, who was unhappy with the party leadership for the last several months, tendered his resignation in a letter to the BJD president. He also met Vice President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha CP Radhakrishnan at New Delhi on Monday morning and tendered his resignation from the membership of the Rajya Sabha.

With this, the number of BJD MPs in the Rajya Sabha has come down to five.

In his resignation letter, Samantaray wrote, “I have always dedicated myself to the interest of the party and have, over the years, worked for the party with utmost conviction and commitment. However, I feel that, of late, I have been systematically belittled in the party and that the party does not require my services. Therefore, I have taken this hard decision in the public interest and request you to accept my resignation.”