With speculations over Jharsuguda Congress MLA Naba Kishore Das set to join the ruling BJD, Minister Surjya Narayan Patro on Sunday claimed that many other Congress legislators are also keen to resign from their party and come over to the BJD.
Patro told the media that it would depend on the BJD leadership as to who from other parties would be allowed entry into the ruling outfit. In the case of Bijay Mohapatra and Dilip Ray, who quit the BJP recently, too, BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik would decide on their inclusion in the BJD if the two leaders want to come to the fold of the State’s ruling party, he added.
Congress leader Srikant Jena, however, sought to rebuff Patro’s assertion and said that the BJD itself is headed for dissolution. The country’s political scene would undergo a major transformation after December 11, he said, obviously referring to the results of the Assembly elections in several States, including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.