In a major jolt for the Opposition BJD, two sons and the sister of six-time MLA Prafulla Samal joined the BJP Saturday.

Samal’s sons Prayaskanti and Pranitkanti, along with his sister Urmila Nayak, joined Odisha’s ruling party at its state headquarters here in the presence of the party’s state unit president Manmohan Samal and other leaders.

Prayaskanti Samal was a former chairperson of Bhadrak municipality and a state secretary of the BJD, while Urmila Nayak is the chairperson of Bhadrak Sadar block (Panchayat Samiti). They joined the saffron party along with their supporters.

Though Prafulla Samal, a former minister, was not available for comment on the development, a BJD MLA alleged that the veteran leader’s sons joined the BJP as part of a deal to escape an ED case connected to an e

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