Veteran BJD leader Prafulla Samal’s two sons, sister join BJP

Bhubaneswar, Dec 6 (PTI) In a major embarrassment for the Opposition BJD, two sons and the sister of six-time MLA Prafulla Samal joined the BJP on Saturday.

Samal’s sons Prayaskanti and Pranitkanti, along with his sister Urmila Nayak, joined Odisha’s ruling party at its state headquarters here in the presence of the party’s state unit president Manmohan Samal and other leaders.

Prayaskanti Samal was a former chairperson of Bhadrak municipality and a state secretary of the BJD, while Urmila Nayak is the chairperson of Bhadrak Sadar block (Panchayat Samiti). They joined the saffron party along with their supporters.

Though Prafulla Samal, a former minister, was not available for comment on the development, a BJD MLA alleged that the veteran leader’s sons joined the BJP as part of a deal to escape an ED case connected to an engineering college run by the family.

“A deal has been made with the BJP regarding the engineering college. The BJP always opposed establishment of the college, but now it has inducted the Samal brothers into the party,” claimed Byomkesh Ray, the legislator from Chandbali.

Besides, the BJD’s block presidents of Bhadrak, Bont, Bhandaripokhari and Basudevpur also joined the BJP.

Nearly 30 sarpanches and 35 Panchayat Samiti members in Bhadrak district also joined the party. PTI AAM NN