Bhubaneswar: Amid twists and turns in the run up to the 2019 general elections in Odisha, senior BJD leader and former MLA Rabi Narayan Pani resigned from the primary membership of the Biju Janata Dal on Sunday.
Tendering his resignation letter at BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik's residence, Pani blamed displeasure over the functioning and state of affairs in the ruling-BJD as the reason behind his resignation from the party.
"I am deeply aggrieved at the falling values and declining ethics in the present day politics of the State which has compelled me to stay away from the present situation," the former legislator pointed out in his letter saying that he is quitting in order to breathe fresh air out of the suffocating environment prevailing within the party.
Pani, one of the 40 star campaigners for the BJD and observer for Jharsuguda and Sambalpur districts for the upcoming polls had served as party legislator from Pallahara Assembly constituency during 2009-14. Besides serving as BJD party chief whip, Pani was also Deogarh MLA on a Janata Dal ticket between 1989 and 1991.
On the other hand, senior BJP leader Krushna Chandra Panda from Puri resigned from the saffron party citing ignorance and cancellation of his candidature by the party leadership.
"After working day and night to strengthen BJP, the party leadership ignored me and nominated an outsider for the elections which has greatly disappointed me and my supporters. After lot of speculations, I finally decided to quit the party," Panda said.
Meanwhile, in another development, Utkal Parida, who resigned from BJP and Congress leader Pramod Jena, who quit the party on Saturday, join BJD after they were denied tickets from their respective parties.