Veteran Leader & Former Kotpad MLA Chandra Sekhar Majhi Dumps Congress, Joins BJD

In what can be termed as a blow to the Congress party in Koraput, Senior Congress leader and the former Legislator from Kotpad Assembly Constituency, Chandra Sekhar Majhi joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) at Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.

Majhi joined the BJD in the presence of several leaders from the ruling party including Pratap Deb and Pranab Prakash Das.

He had won the 2014 Assembly Elections from Kotpad on a Congress ticket. However, he was defeated by BJD’s Padmini Dian in the subsequent 2019 elections.

Speaking about his decision, Majhi said, “My constituents want development in their area. If that can be achieved by joining the ruling party, I am ready for it.”

Asked about the in-fighting in the Congress leadership in Koraput, Majhi made it clear that he did not leave the party over the prevailing dispute between any of the leaders in the district. “It was the demands of the people and I respect it,” he said.

Slamming both BJD and BJP, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) President, Niranjan Patnaik said, “These two parties are not into politics in the State. They are here to do business. They are busy in buying and selling of MLAs which is highly unethical. Nevertheless, the Congress party in Koraput will not get affected by his (Majhi’s) move. We will never be weak in Koraput.”

It is pertinent to mention here that Majhi had resigned from the primary membership of the Congress party on Tuesday.