Senior BJP leader Damodar Rout resigns ahead of Bijepur Assembly by-poll

Damodar Rout a senior BJP leader resigned from the primary membership of the party on Wednesday, claiming that he was not being involved in party activities ahead of the Bijepur Assembly by-poll in Odisha on October 21.

Interestingly Mr Rout had joined the BJP in March after being dismissed from the ruling BJD. “I feel that the party does not require my involvement in its political programmes and the policy-making process after the general elections. This has hurt me,” Mr Rout said in the letter issued.

Mr Rout, who was a member of the Odisha Assembly for 35 years and a cabinet minister for seven times, had lost the 2019 polls from Balikuda-Ersama Assembly constituency. This was the first time that he had contested the election on a BJP ticket. Mr Rout was the second leader after former MLA Ashok Kumar Panigrahi to depart from the BJP party prior to the Bijepur by-poll.