Bhubaneswar: Jayadev MLA Arabinda Dhali joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a day after resigning from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
The legislator was inducted into the BJP in presence of state unit of party president Manmohan Samal, Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi and other senior leaders during a programme here today.
Dhali yesterday informed about his resignation from the BJD.
The five-time MLA currently represents Jayadev Constituency in Bhubaneswar.
He was first elected to Odisha Legislative Assembly from Malkangiri Constituency on BJP ticket in bye-election in 1992. He retained the seat for two consecutive terms on the BJP ticket from 1995-2000 and 2000-2004. He joined the BJD and was elected to the Assembly from Jayadev Constituency in 2009. He won the Assembly polls from Jayadev on BJD ticket in 2019.
During his tenure, he was given ministerial berth in Naveen’s cabinet in various departments like Co-Operation, Textiles & Handloom and Commerce and Transport between 2000 and 2004.
