Jay Dholkia joins BJP; major jolt to BJD ahead of Nuapada Assembly by-Poll
Bhubaneswar, Oct 11 (UNI) In a major political development and a significant blow to the Opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Jay Dholkia, son of late Rajendra Dholkia, a four-time
BJD MLA and former minister joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today.
Jay Dholkia was formally inducted into the BJP at a ceremony held at the party’s state headquarters in Bhubaneswar in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Deputy Chief Minister K.V. Singh Deo, Health and Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling, and several senior party leaders.
BJP Odisha President Manmohan Samal welcomed Jay into the party fold. Jay arrived at the event in a large procession accompanied by hundreds of his supporters.
His induction comes as a major setback to the BJD, which had reportedly planned to field him as its candidate for the Nuapada Assembly by-election, necessitated by the sudden demise of his father, Rajendra Dholkia.
With Jay Dholkia now in the BJP, it is widely expected that the party will field him as its candidate in the upcoming by-election, aiming to wrest the Nuapada seat from the BJD.
Meanwhile, BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik, who is currently in Delhi, has convened a meeting of the party’s Political Affairs Committee this evening to finalise the candidate for the November 11 Nuapada Assembly by-election.
Jay Dholkia’s switch to the BJP has disrupted the BJD’s strategy of leveraging sympathy votes following his father’s death to retain the seat.
The Congress, on the other hand, has already announced Ghasiram Majhi, who secured over 50,000 votes as an independent candidate in the 2024 Assembly election, as its nominee for the by-poll.
Political observers are now watching closely to see whom the BJD will nominate to take on both the BJP and Congress in the crucial contest.
The Nuapada by-election holds major political significance and is being seen as a litmus test for the 16-month-old BJP government in Odisha, led by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.
