New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: A day after deserting Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and resigning from her Rajya Sabha seat, Mamata Mohanta joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at party headquarters in Delhi.
Mohanta, a prominent tribal leader from the Kudumi community of Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, joined the BJP in the presence of party national general secretary Arun Singh and party Odisha in-charge Vijaypal Singh Tomar.
Starting her address with “Jai Jagannath”, Mohanta said, “Service to people is my first aim in public life, I was being neglected in BJD for quite some time.”
In her resignation letter to BJD Supremo Naveen Patnaik, Mohanta said she felt that there was no requirement of the service of her and her community in the party.
Without naming the BJP, opposition chief whip in the state assembly Pramila Mallik said Ms Mohanta’s resignation was part of a “conspiracy hatched by a national party”. She rejected Ms Mohanta’s allegations of being sidelined in the party.
“I joined BJP inspired by Prime Minister Shir Narendra Modi’s ideals to serve people and this is my personal decision, I am not involved in any conspiracy,” Mohanta told media persons.
