In boost to BJP in Odisha, former Naveen aide joins party

Welcoming the 60-year-old to the party, Samal said Panigrahy’s entry will strengthen the BJP in the Ganjam district, a BJD stronghold and bastion of CM Patnaik. Ganjam, within which Panigrahy’s Gopalpur seat falls, is the state’s most populous district, with 2 Lok Sabha and 13 Assembly seats. The BJP is yet to announce which seat Panigrahy will contest from, whether in the Lok Sabha or Assembly polls.

Panigrahy’s induction into the BJP comes a day before Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to address a rally in the Gopalpur constituency.

The Gopalpur MLA, who has been targeting Patnaik and his close aide V K Pandian since he was dismissed from the BJD, mounted a fresh attack immediately after joining the BJP. “A lot of development has taken place in the country under the leadership of PM Modi. The world is today looking at India because of Modiji’s leadership. Time has come for a change in Odisha and to throw away the corrupt government. We will work with the ‘Odia first’ approach,” Panigrahy told reporters.

Considering Panigrahy’s clout, the BJP aims to cut into the BJD’s votes in several Assembly seats. As the BJD’s face in Ganjam for several years, Panigrahy also has a deep understanding of the grassroots-level political equations, through which the BJP hopes to gain ground in Patnaik’s home turf.

“Because of the BJD’s misrule, people have started reposing their faith in the BJP and in the leadership of Narendra Modiji. During the last panchayat and municipality polls, our party also did well in the urban areas. Panigrahy joining will help us,” a BJP leader said.

Panigrahy’s history with the BJD

However, labelling the Gopalpur MLA as “tainted”, Ganjam BJD president Ramesh Chandra Chyau Patnaik said “people are not with him because of his involvement in corruption”.

Of the 13 Assembly seats in Ganjam, the BJD won 12 and the Congress 1 in the 2019 polls. The BJP, however, finished second in all 12 seats the BJD won and third in the other seat despite putting up a tough fight in constituencies like Bhanjanagar, Polsara, Surada, Gopalpur and Chikiti. In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had also finished second to the BJD in both Ganjam seats, Aska and Berhampur.odia

In the 2009 polls, Panigrahy was first elected to the state Assembly from Gopalpur, which he held in 2014 and 2019. In all three polls, Panigrahy secured more than 40% of the vote share and managed to hit 45.7% in 2019. Panigrahy was also a minister in Patnaik’s Cabinet.

Until his expulsion in 2020, Panigrahy had been among the few BJD leaders with direct access to Patnaik. But his relationship with the CM turned sour after he raised questions over the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in Ganjam. He also wrote multiple letters to the CM alleging the government was ignoring suggestions from the local MLAs. Panigrahy’s fallout with Pandian in particular is believed to have been a key reason behind his dismissal from the BJD.

Days after he was expelled from the BJD, he was arrested by the Odisha Police on charges of forgery, fraud and criminal conspiracy and accused of duping several job aspirants on the pretence of giving them employment in Tata Motors. He was released in June 2021 after spending just over seven months in jail.

The vigilance wing of the Odisha government also registered a case against Panigrahy in October 2021, under the Prevention of Corruption Act, for the alleged possession of disproportionate assets.