Orissa BJP MLA quits to support BJD in trust vote

The BJP in Orissa today suffered another jolt with one of its leading MLAs announcing resignation from the party, a day before Naveen Patnaik-led government was due to seek trust vote in Orissa assembly.

"I have sent resignation letter to BJP president and speaker of the assembly. I will vote in support of Naveen government," BJP MLA from Talcher, Mahesh Sahu said, adding that he resigned for alleged indiscpline in state BJP.

Sahu was elected to assembly twice in a row in 2000 and 2004 on a BJP ticket. Though he was aspiring to get a berth in the cabinet, the party did not allow him, source said.

Sahu was the third BJP MLA to resign from BJP within 15 days. Earlier Brundaban Majhi and Dhaneswar Majhi had resigned from BJP.

However, Sananda Marandi, an MLA from Kualiana in Mayurbhanj district, had resigned from the party a few days ago and withdraw the letter later.

Sahu's resgination came a day after former minister Bed Prakash Agarwal resigned from BJP.

Both Sahu and Agarwal were likely to join BJD.

"Sahu has submitted his resgination letter at the party office," BJP State President Mahesh Sahu told PTI.