Bhubaneswar: In a major political realignment in Odisha, more than 1,000 workers of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), including several key organisational leaders from Bhadrak district—long regarded as a bastion of the regional party—joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday. The mass induction has sent shockwaves through the BJD’s district unit, which is already reeling from internal churn and a steady stream of defections in recent months.
Among the most prominent entrants were members of the influential Samal family. Former Bhadrak Municipality Chairperson Prayaskanti Samal (Lulu), his younger brother and Bhandaripokhari Block Vice-Chairman Pranitkanti Samal (Julu), and their aunt Urmila Nayak, the Bhadrak Block chairperson, formally joined the BJP. Their exit is particularly significant as veteran leader Prafulla Samal, a former minister, senior BJD vice president, and one of Bhadrak’s tallest political figures, had recently been entrusted by party chief Naveen Patnaik to stem the wave of desertions and rebuild the organisation in the district.
The BJP’s gains extended further with the induction of Sumati Sethi (Bhandaripokhari Block chairperson), Manoranjan Ghadei (Bant Block chairperson), and Nagen Biswal (Basudevpur Block chairperson), all of whom were until recently part of the BJD’s grassroots structure. Congress youth leader Prakash Jyoti Mahakud also switched sides, signalling wider discontent across party lines.
The induction ceremony at the BJP’s state headquarters in Bhubaneswar was attended by state BJP president Manmohan Samal, Bhadrak MP Abhimanyu Sethi, Bhadrak MLA Sitanshu Sekhar Mohapatra, Minister Suryabanshi Suraj, senior district leaders Banikalyan Mohanty, Bhagaban Panda, Badrinarayan Dhal, Dr. Sudhansu Nayak, and Bhubaneswar MLA Babu Singh.
According to BJP functionaries, around 30 sarpanches, 35 samiti members, and more than 1,000 BJD cadres joined the party during the event, marking one of the largest political turnarounds in Bhadrak in recent years.
The developments, according to political observers, underscored the BJD’s waning influence in Bhadrak, where four of the district’s seven block heads have switched allegiances in the past 18 months.
“The steady exodus of grassroots leaders reflects deepening fractures within the party at the district level. Many now believe that the BJD’s once-solid ‘conch’ base in Bhadrak is beginning to crack,” Smruti Ranjan Sahoo, a political analyst, said.
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