Odisha: Former BJD MP Amar Patnaik joins BJP
Amar Patnaik, the former accountant general of Odisha, who had joined the BJD in August 2018 and served as Rajya Sabha MP from 2019 to 2024, was once entrusted with heading the party’s IT Cell
Bhubaneswar: Former Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Rajya Sabha MP Amar Patnaik joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday—a defection that laid bare the deepening crisis within Odisha’s once-dominant regional force.
Patnaik’s induction at the BJP state headquarters came even as BJD chief and former chief minister Naveen Patnaik was addressing a meeting in Nuapada ahead of the assembly bypoll on November 11.
Amar Patnaik, the former accountant general of Odisha, who had joined the BJD in August 2018 and served as Rajya Sabha MP from 2019 to 2024, was once entrusted with heading the party’s IT Cell.
After joining the BJP at a function in the party’s state office in Bhubaneswar, Patnaik described the move as a life-changing moment in his political journey. “I left my job eight years ago to serve the people of Odisha directly. I worked hard in the Rajya Sabha to raise their issues. Now I feel it is time to contribute to nation-building,” he said.
In August, Patnaik as BJD spokesperson had said that his party would approach the Orissa high court over alleged vote discrepancies in 2024 assembly and Lok Sabha polls. He said the BJD had raised three critical points: more votes counted than cast in electronic voting machines (EVMs), significant differences between parliamentary and assembly constituency vote counts despite simultaneous polling, and other irregularities.
Patnaik’s defection is not an isolated incident. Since June 2024, at least half a dozen leaders have left the party including Rajya Sabha MPs Mamata Mohanta and Sujit Kumar, who joined the BJP and were re-elected as MPs. Similarly, former Rajya Sabha MP N Bhaskar Rao, former MLA Sunanda Das and former minister Lal Bihari Himrika have quit the regional party.
