Sujeet Kumar, a former BJD MP who was expelled, has joined the BJP.
Arpit Pattnaik
Rajya Sabha member from BJD, Sujeet Kumar, tendered his resignation from the Upper House of Parliament on Friday. In his resignation letter to the Rajya Sabha chairman, Kumar said he took the decision consciously.
“I express my profound gratitude for the opportunities provided to me to raise issues of public importance, and of my state Odisha, in the House,” he stated in the resignation letter.
Soon after his resignation, BJD expelled Kumar from the party, citing it as an anti-party activity. Later, it was reported that he joined BJP.
BJD president and former chief minister Naveen Patnaik said Kumar has let down the party, which sent him to the Rajya Sabha. Kumar has also let down the aspirations of the people of Kalahandi, he said in the expulsion order.
Meanwhile, Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankar has accepted Kumar's resignation following his expulsion from BJD.
A lawyer and social entrepreneur, Kumar resigned a month after Mamata Mohanta, a leader from Mayurbhanj district, resigned from the Rajya Sabha and BJD. Mohanta later joined the BJP and was recently elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha.
