Opposition exodus continues: 5 politicians from Bengal, Assam, Telangana, Odisha defect to BJP in one day
Odisha joined the BJP on Thursday itself. Let's take a look Former Congress leader Kaustav Bagchi, who had resigned from the party a day before, joined the BJP on Thursday and vowed to fight against the TMC regime in the state. "Today, we are happy to welcome Kaustav Bagchi in the BJP," party leader Suvendu Adhikari said at a programme here.
West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar was also present. Bagchi resigned from the Congress on Wednesday, claiming a "lack of respect" within the organisation. Bagchi, who had his head tonsured after being released on bail following his arrest over comments against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee last year, sent his resignation to Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, with copies to party state chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and general secretary and state in-charge Ghulam Ahmed Mir.
Known as a bitter critic of the TMC, Bagchi had opposed Congress and TMC being part of the opposition bloc INDIA. Expelled BJD MLA Prashant Jagdev on Thursday joined the BJP and expected a double-engine government in Odisha after the Lok Sabha and the state assembly elections later this year. He was an MLA from the Chilika constituency before expulsion.
Jagdev is the second expelled BJD leader after Pradeep Panigrahy to join the BJP this month. Former BRS MP from Telengana Pothuganti Ramulu joined the BJP here on Thursday, quitting his party ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Along with Ramulu, his son Bharat Prasad and several other BRS leaders from Telangana, also joined the BJP in the presence of senior party leaders, including Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar and party in-charge for Telangana Tarun Chugh .
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