Bhubaneswar: BJD Rajya Sabha MP Debashish Samantaray Monday resigned from the primary membership of the regional party.
In his resignation letter to BJD president Naveen Patnaik, Samantaray alleged that he had been “systematically belittled” within the party.
“I feel the party does not require my services. Therefore, I have taken this hard decision in public interest,” he said in the letter.
Samantaray’s resignation comes months after two other Rajya Sabha MPs — Sujeet Kumar and Mamata Mahanta — quit the party. Mahanta and Kumar were later elected to the Rajya Sabha on BJP tickets.
A two-time MLA elected in 2009 and 2014, Samantaray expressed gratitude to Patnaik for nominating him to the Upper House of Parliament.
“I shall always be indebted to you for nominating me to Rajya Sabha. I take this opportunity to express my sincere and deepest gratitude to you for giving me the opportunity to serve the people of undivided Cuttack district and to raise issues concerning Odisha at the national level,” he said in the letter.
Sources said Samantray was likely to join the BJP.
Samantaray, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 2024, had been a known critic of former bureaucrat-turned-politician VK Pandian, who withdrew from active politics after the BJD’s defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha and Odisha Assembly elections.
He had repeatedly alleged that despite announcing his “sanyas” from active politics, Pandian continued to influence the functioning of the regional party from behind the scenes.
Earlier, Samantaray had resigned from the post of vice-president of the BJD senior citizens’ cell in November 2025. At that time, he had voiced dissatisfaction with the party’s functioning.
He also alleged that the BJD drifted away from the ideology and principles of former CM Biju Patnaik.
Meanwhile, rejecting suggestions that Samantaray’s resignation was a setback to the party, the BJD claimed his exit would instead strengthen the organisation in Cuttack.
“He left the party to protect his business interests. He was in politics to do business and not to serve the people,” Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik said.
Stating that Patnaik had made Samantaray an MP and twice an MLA besides assigning him party responsibilities, Mallik said, “The BJP may make him Prime Minister or President of India. He left the party when it is in opposition after taking all the benefits from the BJD when it was in power.”
With Samantaray’s resignation, the BJD’s strength in the Rajya Sabha is likely to come down to five MPs.
