Two days after Naveen Patnaik led BJD government in Orissa won a controversial vote of confidence in the assembly, four BJP MLAs and as many former legislators on Friday joined the ruling party.
The BJP MLAs were -- Dhaneswar Majhi (Kesinga), Brundaban Majhi (Laikera), Sanada Marandi (Kuliana) and Mahesh Sahu (Talcher).
Among the former BJP members were Bed Prakash Agarwal, vice-chairman of the state planning board and Arabinda Dhali, a former minister, besides Rammurthy Gamang from Gunupur and Sadan Nayak of Kotpad.
They had recently resigned from BJP accusing it of deviating from its ideology.
Several others including Oriya film actor Sukanta Mohapatra and General Secretary of state Samajwadi Party, Santosh Mohapatra also joined BJD along with their supporters in the presence of Patnaik in Bhubaneswar.
Welcoming them into BJD, Patnaik said the party has been strengthened with their joining.