Former Odisha minister Pradeep Kumar Panigrahi political career gets lifejacket after he joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday after he was expelled from the BJD four years ago.
Panigrahi joined the saffron party in the presence of its state chief Manmohan Samal.
Panigrahi, a known critic of bureaucrat-turned-BJD leader VK Pandian, was expelled from the ruling party in 2020 for being involved in "anti-people activities".
Accusing the state's BJD administration of being "arrogant and autocratic," he pledged to remove the Naveen Patnaik regime from power.
A three-time lawmaker from Gopalpur in Ganjam district had earlier also served as a higher education minister in the state government.
Samal welcomed Panigrahi to the BJP and said the former state minister would strengthen the party in Ganjam.
"The BJP will emerge stronger in Ganjam and neighbouring districts with his entry to the party,” he said.
Senior BJD leader Ramesh Chandra Chayupatnaik claimed that Panigrah joining the saffron camp will have "no impact on Ganjam district politics".
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