Bhubaneswar, Sept. 8: The BJD appears to be standing on a sticky wicket. The increasing exodus of leaders from Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has generated a palpable sense of worry and uneasiness in the regional outfit’s camp. And, this exodus comes at a time when speculations are high that more BJD leaders will soon change their allegiance.

The BJD leadership is now seemingly pondering how to contain the avalanche, both at district and state levels. Soon after the results of the Lok Sabha and assembly elections were out, a large number of gram Zilla Parishad members and block level panchayati raj representatives left the party and joined the BJP.

What came as big blows to the BJD is the quitting of the Rajya Sabha membership by two senior leaders – Mamata Mohanta and Sujeet Kumar. Both the leaders later joined the BJP.

According to senior BJD leader Amar Prasad Satpathy, the regular exodus of party leaders and their subsequent entry into the BJP fold is sending out a wrong signal and the party leadership must think over it.

“When Rajya Sabha members quit their membership as well as resign from the party, it sends out a wrong message to the public and demoralizes cadres of the organization. We must rethink and take course correction measures,” Satpathy told reporters on Sunday.

Realising that things are moving out of his control, BJD president and former chief minister Naveen Patnaik has decided to launch a mass outreach programme in November.

Senior BJD leader Ashok Chandra Panda, while claiming that Naveen Patnaik was still in the hearts of the people for all his “good work,” on Sunday said the party would stage a comeback in the coming days.

“Though we lost power in the 2024 assembly elections, we got more votes than the BJP. We have also got 51 of the 147 members in Odisha Legislative Assembly. This is not a small number. We will surely fight back and win the next elections to serve the people again,” said Panda.

Naveen, who kept himself cocooned to his residence after the poll debacle, on Saturday was spotted visiting Ganesh Puja mandaps in Bhubaneswar apparently to reestablish his connections with the local people.

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