Paralakhemundi: Former Congress MLA from Paralakhemundi K Surya Rao will join the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) today ahead of the 2024 election in Odisha.
K Surya Rao, who had resigned from the Congress party in 2019, will join the State ruling party along with hundreds of his supporters.
Rao had won the Paralakhemundi assembly seat in 2014 but had finished fourth in the 2019 polls. He had got only 24,000 votes following which he left the party. BJP’s K Narayan Rao won the election, while independent candidate Tirupati Panigrahi and BJD’s Kalyan Gajapati stood in the second and third place respectively.
K Surya Rao has a stronghold among the Telugu speaking people of the locality. Therefore, his joining in BJD would have immense impact in the politics of Paralakhemundi assembly seat and Berhampur Lok Sabha seat.
The Naveen Patnaik-led party though so far has named 72 candidates for Assembly seats and 15 Lok Sabha candidates but is yet to field anyone from either for the Paralakhemundi assembly seat or Berhampur Lok Sabha segment. Therefore, it is speculated that Surya Rao would be a strong contender to get the party ticket for the upcoming general elections.
Ms Kalinga