Bhubaneswar, April 3 (IANS): Former BJP leader Bhrugu Baxipatra and former Salipur MLA Prakash Chandra Behera on Wednesday joined BJD in the presence of senior leaders of the party at the Sankha Bhawan, the party headquarters here.

Behera had been elected to the state assembly from Salipur constituency on Congress ticket in 2014. He later joined Bharatiya Janata Party and contested the 2019 elections on BJP ticket but lost to BJD’s Prasant Behera.

Behera, who had resigned from the BJP a few days back and joined the BJD on Wednesday along with his supporters.

After joining, Behera said that he took the decision after getting influenced by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s clean image and the developmental work done by his government in the state.

Meanwhile, senior leader Bhrugu Baxipatra also joined BJD hours after quitting BJP in a joining programme at Sankha Bhawan on Wednesday.

“I have come to a new family now. There has been massive development in Odisha and to strengthen and speed up the process of development further, I have joined the party under CM Naveen Patnaik’s leadership,” said Baxipatra.

Similarly, noted tribal leader and former Sundargarh MLA George Tirkey's son Rohit Joseph Tirkey along with others also joined BJD on Wednesday.