Sixteen ‘rebel’ coroporators of BMC, CMC join BJD

Bhubaneswar, Mar 4:

16 rebel corporators of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) today joined the ruling BJD.

While 11 corporators of BMC joined the party at Naveen Niwas in presence of Mayor Anant Narayan Jena, Bhubaneswar MP Prasanna Patsani, MLAs Ashok Panda and Bhagirathi Badajena, five councilors from CMC joined BJD at the party office here.

“Several corporators have joined BJD today. It will strengthen the party,” said party supremo and chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

It is to be noted that all these 16 councillors had contested against the official candidates of BJD after they were denied party tickets in the recently concluded civic elections for the two corporations.

“I was in the party earlier too but after I was refused ticket I contested against official candidate at the request of the people in my ward. Biju Patnaik is my source of inspiration and the party has been named after the legendary leader,” said Monalisa Sahu, councillor from ward number-8.

Sahu said that she will abide by the decision of The party and work accordingly.

Biranchi Narayan Mahasupkar, councillor from ward number 59, said that he was all along a BJD worker.

” I was away for a while but have come back to the party to work for the development of my ward,” he said.

Majority of the rebel candidates in Bhubaneswar were elected from the wards under the assembly constituencies of Ekamra and Bhubaneswar North.

According to sources, the independent BMC councillors may have joined BJD but they are still unhappy with the MLAs who they hold responsible for denial of party tickets to them.