Ahead of the Panchayat polls due early next year in Odisha, Congress on Sunday brought back into the party fold, former MLA Shivaji Majhi, who had been suspended for defying a whip during Rajya Sabha elections six years ago. Apart from Mahji, the ex-MLA of Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district, former MP Nakul Nayak also joined the party in the presence of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) chief, Prasad Harichandan in Bhubaneswar. The two leaders joined the party following a decision of AICC on the basis of the recommendation made by Kalahandi and Kandhamal Congress Committees, he said. “I was disappointed in 2014 after being denied Congress ticket for the Assembly elections and I joined BJP. Both BJD and BJP have failed miserably in restoring normalcy in Kandhamal, claimed Nayak, who turned rebel after being denied a BJD ticket in the 2009 polls.

Source: Indian Express September 04, 2016 14:42 UTC