Bhubaneswar: In a major setback to the Congress ahead of the upcoming general elections, veteran Odisha Congress leader and Jatni MLA Suresh Routray tendered his resignation from all committees in the Congress party on Wednesday.
Also known as Sura, he sent his resignation letter to the State Congress leadership in this regard. In the letter, he mentioned that he is resigning from all the posts of the party but he will remain in Congress till his last breath.
Sura took the extreme step after his younger son Manmath Routray joined the ruling Biju Janata Dal at Sankha Bhawan on Wednesday.
Manmath along with scores of his supporters and some councillors took out a grand rally which culminated at BJD headquarters where he was formally inducted into the party fold by its senior leaders.
The veteran leader was elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly six times from Jatni constituency. In 1977, he won the constituency on a Janata Party ticket. Later, he represented the constituency in 1980, 1985, 1995, 2000 and 2019 as a Congress candidate.
