Former State DGP Prakash Mishra joined the BJP in the presence of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and other senior leaders at the party headquarters here on Sunday.
Speculations are rife that the BJP will field Mishra as its candidate from Cuttack for Lok Sabha elections togive a tough fight to the BJD.
The former Odisha-cadre IPS officer had served the State Government as the DGP for two years from July 2012 to 2014. He was shunted out from the DGP post in July 2014 and was slapped with a Vigilance case in September 2014.
Later, the Supreme Court quashed the case against Mishra in August 2017. Following this, he was posted as the Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Union Home Ministry. The Centre appointed him as CRPF DG on December 22, 2014.