Congress MLA leaves party, 4th from the party to leave in last 3 months

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Updated: Mar 16, 2019 15:06 IST

Opposition Congress wracked by dissidence got another jolt on Saturday after its MLA from Salepur constituency of Cuttack district, Prakash Behera resigned from the party alleging that he was humiliated time and again.

Behera, who won from the Salepur seat in 2014 with about 2000-odd votes, sent in his resignation letter to AICC president Rahul Gandhi this morning.

“My grievance was not considered duly by the PCC. I have worked in Congress for last 20 years but the party has neglected me of late,” he wrote to Gandhi, a day after the Congress president visited the western Odisha district of Bargarh.

People close to Behera indicated that he would join BJP on Sunday. In January this year, Behera triggered speculations of leaving Congress when he led a public rally that did not feature even a single flag of Congress party.

In June last year, Behera had resigned from the post of president of Cuttack district Congress committee.

Behera’s exit from Congress is the 4th such incident in last 3 months. In January this year, Congress had expelled its lone Dalit MLA Krushna Sagaria from the party.

Soon after Jharsuguda MLA Naba Das and Sundargarh MLA Jogesh Singh too resigned from the party. While Sagaria has joined Bahujan Samaj Party, Das and Singh have joined Biju Janata Dal.

On the other hand, the ruling BJD is also facing desertions with Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi and Nilagiri MLA Sukanta Nayak quitting the party alleging conspiracy against them. Majhi, a former chief engineer of Indian Railways won for the first time in 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

While MP alleged that a conspiracy was hatched against him, Nayak claimed that he was subjected to mental torture by the Balasore district BJD president.

Majhi is likely to join BJP this evening and may be pitted as BJP candidate from Nabarangpur Lok Sabha seat.