BHUBANESWAR: : The BJP and Congress received a setback today ahead of the panchayat polls with more than 200 workers from Western Odisha region joining the ruling BJD.
Congress and BJP workers from Nuapada and Khariar assembly constituencies led by former MLA Rajendra Dholakia joined the ruling party in the presence of chief minister Naveen Patnaik at the Naveen Nivas.
Addressing the workers who joined the party, the chief minister said BJD is committed for the development of the common people and poor for which the people have voted it for such a long period.
The work undertaken by the BJD has been able to touch the imagination of the people, he said.
Joining of so many BJP and Congress activists in BJD has assumed significance as the opposition political parties are trying to challenge the supremacy of the ruling BJD in the Western Odisha region. Those who crossed over to the BJD today include many Congress and Youth Congress leaders.
Minister of state for higher education Pradip Panigrahy and several senior leaders of the BJD attended the joining ceremony.