Bhubaneswar: Ahead of the 2019 elections, Utkal Bharat founder and former MP Kharabela Swain returned to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in presence of his supporters at the party’s State headquarters in Bhubaneswar.
Swain officially joined the saffron party in presence of union minister Dharmendra Pradhan at BJP’s state headquarters in Bhubaneswar.
“I have rejoined the party to oust the corrupt and inefficient BJD government in Odisha. Being inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s developmental programmes, I preferred to return to the party,” he told after accepting the primary membership of the BJP.
He is likely to get ticket for Kandhamal Lok Sabha constituency to contest the upcoming polls.
Worth mentioning, Swain, who was elected to Lok Sabha thrice on BJP ticket, took a different political path in 2010. He left the BJP and formed Utkala Bharat.
Together with the Aama Odisha Party, Utkal Bharat had sought an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party for the 2014 Indian general election. However, no deal was reached with the BJP. Five years later, he joined the BJP Monday before the upcoming polls.
PNN
