Bhubaneswar, Feb 21: Ahead of the 2024 elections to Lok Sabha and Odisha State Assembly, former BJD leader and Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Kumar Panigrahi joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) here in Odisha on Wednesday.

Panigrahi, a former Minister and three-time BJD MLA from Gopalpur in Ganjam district, joined the saffron party at a "Misrana Parba '' programme at the party's State headquarters in the presence of BJP Odisha unit president, Manmohan Samal and other senior leaders.

Samal welcomed Panigrahi to the BJP and said the former State Minister would strengthen the saffron party in Ganjam.

Speaking on the occasion, Panigrahi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has upheld the dignity of the country all over the world. "Inspired by the ideals of PM Narendra Modi, I have joined the BJP. The BJD dispensation in the State has been blind, dumb, deaf, autocratic and arrogant. Naveen Babu became the Chief Minister with the blessings of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He later broke the alliance with the BJP for his own interests. Time has come to remove the arrogant and autocratic Naveen Patnaik government and bring BJP to power," Panigrahi said.

The Gopalpur MLA vowed to oust the Naveen Patnaik government in the ensuing Assembly elections. He appealed to the people of Odisha to give full support to the BJP once. "The BJP government will be dedicated to the people. If the BJP comes to power in Odisha, the Ministries and State secretariats will be open to one and all in the State," he said.

Panigrahi had earlier served as the Higher Education Minister in the State government.

Once a close aide of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Panigrahi was known to be a strong critic of the alleged bureaucratic rule in the State. He was expelled from the ruling BJD on November 29, 2020, on charges of ‘anti-people activities’.

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