Odisha MLA Prakash Chandra Behera resigns the Congress party on Friday, after being with the Congress for 20 years,  joined the BJP on Sunday in presence of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. In a letter to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Behera had said that he decided to quit the party after being "ignored" by the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) leadership.

Joining the BJP during a party press conference in Delhi, he asserted, "I have faith in Narendra Modi's leadership and the youngsters in my constituency are really overwhelmed with the government's decision of carrying out surgical strikes."