Hundreds of BJD leaders expressing dissatisfaction with the party’s functioning joined the BJP in Paikmal area. They said they were attracted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A formal ceremony will be held to welcome the new entrants in the BJP, said former Padmapur MLA and BJP Krishak Morcha State president Pradeep Purohit. BJP Paikmal constituency president Kailash Dishree, senior leader Govardhan Agrawal, Raj Kumar Trivedi, lawyer Raj Kumar Sahu were present.
The BJD leaders who embraced BJP included Sushant Nag, DivakarTanti, Ajay Seth, Dham Mirdha, Ranjit Seth, Shiva Dansana, Naresh Barik, Alekh Harpal, Kishore Kumar Bagh, Rajesh Kumar Sharma, Jitendra Haripali, Akash Bahidar, Bholanath Podh and Mahadev Chand among others.