Odisha: Jayaram Pangi resigns from BJP

KORAPUT: Former

Koraput

MP and veteran BJP leader

Jayaram Pangi

resigned from the primary membership of the party on Friday. The four-time MLA from

Pottangi

constituency, Pangi won the Koraput Lok Sabha seat on a BJD ticket in 2009 and joined BJP in 2017.

He lost to Saptagiri

Sankar Ulaka

of Congress in 2019 Lok Sabha election while contesting as a BJP candidate. For the last few months, Pangi has been working towards the formation of a union territory by including certain areas of Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh and for it he has formed Dandakaranya Parvatmala Vikash Parishad (DPVP) "As it is not possible to devote time for the party while working for the DPVP, I decided to quit the party," said Pangi, refusing to comment on whether he will join any other political party. However, speculation is rife that the veteran tribal leader might rejoin the ruling BJD.