Bhubaneswar: Ahead of general polls, party hopping is common among political leaders in the state and ruling BJD seems to have gained the most.
In a major development in the political circle, senior Congress leader and former minister Dr Kamala Das on Thursday tendered her resignation from the party and hinted at joining BJD soon.
In a letter to the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Jayadev Jena and All India Congress Committee (AICC), the former Bhogarai MLA said the ongoing intra-party feud and the party's indifference towards senior leaders forced her to take such step.
Notably, Das was earlier Minister of Health and Family Welfare in 2000 when BJD came to power and Naveen Patnaik became chief minister. However, she quit the regional party and joined Congress after being dropped from the ministry on allegations of corruption.
Meanwhile, the other big switch is former BJP leader and ex-minister Golak Nayak joining BJD.
The former minister joined the BJD at the party headquarters here in the presence of the party supremo and chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
Nayak had resigned from BJP on February 21, saying it was difficult to bear with the attitude of some top leaders of the party.
Nayak, a prominent leader in Mayurbhanj district, was a minister in the Naveen Patnaik cabinet from 2000 to 2009 until his party's alliance with BJD ended.