Chargesheeted by CBI, Former Odisha MP Quits BJD, Joins BJP Day Before Court Hearing

New Delhi: Former Balasore MP and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Rabindra Kumar Jena on Wednesday (March 11) formally joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Odisha. Jena joined the party along with his supporters, at the BJP’s state headquarters in Bhubaneswar, reported Hindustan Times.

Notably, Jena joined the saffron party a day before a scheduled CBI court hearing on March 12, wherein the CBI has filed a chargesheet against Jena for his alleged involvement in the Seashore chit fund scam in Odisha.

“BJP is the only party capable of developing Odisha as well as India,” said Jena after joining the party in the presence of BJP’s Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal and other senior leaders.

Earlier on Tuesday (March 10), Jena had resigned from BJD’s primary membership, citing “personal causes and circumstances” in his letter to party supremo Naveen Patnaik.

Back in 2014, Jena had won the Balasore Lok Sabha seat on a BJD ticket. Five years later, he had lost the seat to BJP’s Pratap Sarangi. In 2024, he was denied the party ticket in 2024 general elections.

The BJD had fielded his wife, Subasini Jena, the incumbent BJD MLA from Basta once again from the constituency in the 2024 Assembly elections. She had won by a margin of over 20,000 votes against Congress candidate Bijan Nayak.

Along with Jena, Basta and Balasore block chairpersons, along with six Zilla Parishad members from the district, also joined the BJP, reported Hindustan Times.

Jena said that while he held BJD supremo Patnaik in high regard.

Jena said that a regional party could not survive without passing the baton to the next generation of leaders. Jena added that he had raised with the BJD leadership on multiple occasions, without result.

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