Dikhyaa Mohanty 
With just two months to the twin elections in Odisha, senior BJD leader and Cuttack MP Bhartruhari Mahtab announced his resignation from the regional party on Friday.
Addressing a presser here, the 6-time MP said that he sent his resignation letter to party president Naveen Patnaik at 4 pm. “With a heavy heart, I have resigned from the primary membership of the the party with which I have been associated since its inception and have been part of its success story,” he said, mentioning the content of the letter.
While accusing the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD of deviating from its vision of fighting corruption and self-aggrandisement, he said that his suggestions on improving the functioning of the BJD have fallen on deaf ears. “There is a limit to one’s patience. I feel I can fight these issues better by dissociating myself from the party,” he said.
The veteran parliamentarian added that he felt constrained in his scope of work within the BJD.
His resignation came minutes after state BJP president Mamohan Samal reiterated that the saffron party would contest all 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Vidhan Sabha seats in Odisha through a post on X. The alliance talks had earlier put Bhartruhari in a sticky wicket as there were reports that the ruling BJD, which was insisting on keeping the Cuttack Lok Sabha constituency in the seat-sharing deal, might drop him for his alleged saffron leaning.
