In a major embarrassment for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a party leader and Sarpanch in Jajpur district, who had hosted a lunch in his house for Union Ministers Amit Shah and Dharmendra Pradhan, among other BJP leaders, joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) recently.
Dalit leader and Arei gram panchayat Sarpanch Debananda Mallick joined the BJD on December 26 in the presence of Binjharapur BJD MLA Pramila Mallick.
The then BJP national president Amit Shah had addressed a public meeting at Panikoili in Jajpur district on February 5, 2017. To woo dalit voters, he, before going to address the meeting, had a stopover at the dalits-dominated Arei village under Binjharapur block and had lunch in the house of Debananda Mallick.
Mallick was suspended from the BJP last month for his anti-party work. His joining the BJD would in no way harm the saffron party in the district, said Gautam Ray, president of the BJP district unit.