Subhashree Das, wife of Odisha's most wanted Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, Wednesday joined Ama Odisha, a regional political party, here.
Das said the ideology of the Ama Odisha motivated her and she expects to contest next month's assembly election from Ranpur constituency.
She joined the party along with about 150 supporters in the presence of party chief Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, a senior leader told IANS.
Das was in jail for two years for her alleged links with the rebels. A court acquitted her of the charges April 2012.
Since then, she has been busy in social and political activities in Ranpur that her father-in-law Ramesh Panda represented thrice in the assembly on a Communist Party of India-Marxist ticket.
The elections for 21 Lok Sabha seats and the 147-member assembly would be held simultaneously in Odisha April 10 and 17.