Bhubaneswar: A day after quitting Biju Janata Dal (BJD), former Balasore MP Rabindra Kumar Jena on Wednesday joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Odisha.

Jena along with his supporters joined the BJP at the party’s state headquarters in Bhubaneswar.

BJP Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal and senior leaders of the party were present on the occasion.

Jena resigned from the primary membership of BJD, the main Opposition party in Odisha, on Tuesday.

In his resignation letter to BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik, the former MP cited personal cause and circumstances as the reasons behind his decision.

Jena had been elected to the Lok Sabha from Balasore segment on a BJD ticket in 2014.

Jena's wife is the sitting BJD MLA from Basta

However, he lost the Lok Sabha polls from the constituency to BJP candidate Pratap Sarangi in 2019.

However, Jena was denied the BJD ticket in 2024 Lok Sabha polls as the Naveen Patnaik-led party picked former BJP member Lekhashree Samantasinghar as its candidate from Balasore.

The regional party, however, fielded Jena’s wife Subasini Jena from Basta segment in Balasore in 2024 Assembly elections in the state. Subasini won the elections by defeating Congress candidate Bijan Nayak by over 20,000 votes.

As per reports, Basta and Balasore block chairpersons and six Zilla Parishad (ZP) members from the district also joined the BJP on Wednesday.  

It is worth mentioning here that the CBI has filed chargesheet against Jena for his alleged involvement in the chitfund scam in Odisha. Incidentally, the former MP joined the ruling BJP just a day ahead of the scheduled hearing in the CBI court on March 12.  

“I have joined BJP as it is the only party capable for developing Odisha as well as India. A regional party will not survive if it does not pass on the baton to the next generation of leaders. I had raised this issue with the BJD supremo several times but nothing was done in this regard,” Jena said.