Rajya Sabha MP Debashish Samantaray joins BJP, a day after resigning from BJD

Former Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Rajya Sabha MP Debashish Samantaray joined the BJP on Tuesday in the presence of senior party leaders. He had resigned from the BJD on Monday. A long-time associate of BJD supremo and former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Samantaray resigned from both the party and the Rajya Sabha on Monday, alleging that he was being "systematically belittled" in the organisation.