Independent councillors join the BJD in presence of chief minister Naveen Patnaik at his residence in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar/Cuttack, March 4: Eighteen Independent councillors from municipal corporations of the twin cities joined the BJD today in the presence of chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

All the 12 Independent councillors of the 67-member Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation officially joined the BJD, taking the number of its strength to 61.

In Cuttack, six out of the 10 Independents have joined the Naveen Patnaik-led party, taking its tally to 42 in the 59-member body.

While the Cuttack councillors joined the regional outfit in the BJD party office, their Bhubaneswar counterparts joined it at the chief minister’s residence.

Though 11 councillors in Bhubaneswar joined BJD in the morning, councillor of ward No. 9 Suryakanti Pradhan came a little late. Mayor A.N. Jena confirmed in the evening that she had also joined the party. All of them had contested as rebel candidates of the BJD.

The BJD had won in 49 of 67 wards and 12 of its rebel candidates had defeated its official nominees. The BJP and the Congress had occupied four and two seats, respectively. “They were inspired by the charisma of chief minister Naveen Patnaik and joined the party. This will strengthen the party,” said Jena.

Khurda BJD district president Babuli Mishra also welcomed their entry. A new entrant said they were happy to return to the party fold as they had been forced to contest as rebels after being denied tickets.

“We are happy to join the BJD. We belonged to the party and we will work for it,” said Monalisa Sahu, an Independent councillor, who defeated the BJD’s high-profile candidate Linkan Subuddhi.

Another councillor said the party leaders had made a mistake by not giving them tickets. The people in their areas wanted them and hence voted for them.

“The party leadership corrected its mistake and invited us to rejoin the party,” he said.

In Cuttack, of the six Independent councillors, who came under the BJD umbrella, five were party rebels and one Congress rebel.

Earlier, the BJD had secured a clear mandate by winning in 36 wards, while the Congress got nine and the BJP, four. The Independent candidates represented 10 wards.

Of the five BJD rebels, who rejoined the party today, two are wives of former sitting councillors.

“I was keen to join the BJD as I was deeply inspired by the ideology and clean image of chief minister Naveen Patnaik,” said Kabita Khandei, one of them.

The lone rebel councillor from the Congress to have joined the BJD is Dipalibala Bhuyan, wife of former councillor Pavitra Bhuyan (from ward No. 31). “The Congress had betrayed us, which is why I contested the polls as an Independent candidate. We had also sought people’s opinion before contesting and joining the BJD,” said Dipalibala Bhuyan, councillor of ward No. 35.

“I had always worked for the BJD. Though I was denied party ticket, I filed nomination as people of my ward wanted me to contest the polls,” said Chiranjay Sahoo, councillor of ward No. 42.