Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President, Amit Shah and Former Congress leader Giridhar Gamang during a meeting in New Delhi on Friday. (PTI Photo) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President, Amit Shah and Former Congress leader Giridhar Gamang during a meeting in New Delhi on Friday. (PTI Photo)

Two weeks after resigning from Congress, former Odisha chief minister and nine-time Congress MP Giridhar Gamang along with his son Shishir on Friday joined BJP in the presence of party President Amit Shah.

“Yes, I have joined the BJP,” said Gamang told after meeting Shah at his Akbar Road residence in New Delhi. Others present in the meeting were Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan and in-charge (pravari) of party affairs in Odisha, Arun Singh.

Before flying to Delhi, Gamang met with senior state BJP leaders, including State President K V Singhdeo, senior leader Bijay Mohapatra, Organising Secretary Prasanna Mishra and local BJP leader Bhrugu Buxipatra on Monday.

On May 30, Gamang, a Gandhi family loyaist, had resigned from Congress, accusing the party of humiliating him since 1999 when his vote led to the downfall of Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. The tribal leader, the then CM of Odisha, was pilloried for his controversial vote. He earned further opprobrium in October 1999 for his pathetic relief and rehabilitation measures in the aftermath of 1999 supercyclone.

BJP sources said Gamang’s entry to the party would give it a boost in south Odisha where tribal voters hold sway. With BJP eyeing to replace Congress as the second largest party after BJD in the 2017 panchayat polls, the inclusion of a leader like Gamang was crucial for the party. Though Gamang’s electoral success is a distant past, BJP hopes to chip away at the tribal votes of Congress in undivided Koraput district which Gamang represented for a long time.

Party sources indicated Gamang could be made a member of National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.

Though the party fared poorly in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll despite a massive Modi wave winning just a single Lok Sabha seat, it appointed Jual Oram as union Tribal Affairs minister. Last month the party made former State minister Draupadi Murmu as the Governor of Jharkhand.

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