Three Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) have reportedly quit the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and have joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Out of the four sitting BJD MLAs who have so far resigned from the regional party to protest against denial of tickets, three have joined the BJP namely, Sukant Kumar Nayak, Purna Chandra Nayak, and Debraj Mohanty, reports Business Standard. All of them were not allotted party tickets for the upcoming assembly elections in Odisha.

On similar lines, three former BJD MLAs - Niranjan Pradhan, Kashinath Mallick and K Narayan Rao have also joined the BJP on 20 March (Wednesday).

Meanwhile, former BJD MP Laxman Tudu, who switched over to the regional party Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) after not getting the party ticket during the 2014 elections has also joined the BJP.

All these leaders have joined the party with hundreds of their supporters and are hopeful of getting BJP tickets to contest for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as the party has not yet announced its complete list of candidates.