Dikhyaa Mohanty 
Sambalpur MP Nitesh Gangdev’s wife Arundhati Kumari Devi and son Naman Gangdev joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Tuesday, just hours after he resigned from the BJP. Today, in front of BJD president and chief minister Naveen Patnaik, the mother-son pair went to the Naveen Niwas and officially joined the regional party. Manas Mangraj, MP for the BJD in the Rajya Sabha, was also present when she joined.
Nitesh Gangdev, a BJP member who had been absent from party activities for some time, was not available to remark on the development. Arundhati Kumari Devi did not participate in the party’s organizational activities either. She posted on social media earlier in the day to announce her resignation from the BJP.
Notably, union minister Dharmendra Pradhan has emerged from Sambalpur as the BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate, unseatng Nitesh Gangdev.
