BJP MLA quits to support BJD in trust vote

Bhubaneswar (PTI): BJP in Orissa on Tuesday 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 the Naveen government," BJP MLA from Talcher, Mahesh Sahu said, adding that he resigned for alleged indiscpline in State BJP.

Mr. 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.

Mr. 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 withdrew the letter later.

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

Both Mr. Sahu and Mr. Agarwal were likely to join