Six-time BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab joins BJP, likely to be fielded from Cuttack

“My decision to snap my umbilical cord with BJD may be harsh but it has given me immense relief. This is because I had been living with a kind of pain. When it became unbearable, I took the decision,” said 67-year-old Bhartruhari, who was the BJD’s floor leader in the Lok Sabha between 2014 and 2019, said at an event to join the BJP at the party headquarters.

Mahtab, 67, son of former Odisha chief minister Harekrushna Mahtab, has been winning the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat since 1998. He resigned from BJD on March 22, alleging that ‘asura shakti’(evil forces) have a firm grip over the party and government.

The lawmaker, who also edits Odia daily Prajatantra, has lately been critical of the functioning of the BJD and the Odisha government in multiple editorials.