Bhubaneswar: Veteran leader and former Odisha minister Damodar Rout on Wednesday resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging ‘sidelined and ignored’ by the saffron party.
The senior leader, who joined BJP a moth before the 2019 General Elections, has sent his resignation letter to BJP State unit President Basanta Kumar Panda.
“After conclusion of the General Elections, my presence and involvement in party programmes and policy making process are not being felt necessary,” he said in his resignation letter.
Earlier this month, the veteran leader had announced his retirement from electoral politics, ending a 45-year-long active politics.
In 2017, Rout was removed from the Council of Ministers in the Naveen Patnaik Government over his several controversial remarks. Later in 2018, he was expelled from the BJD for his alleged anti-party statements.
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Kalinga AI