BHUBANESHWAR: In a major jolt to the Congress, former Odisha Chief Minister and nine-time Lok Sabha member Giridhar Gamang resigned quit from the party on Saturday. This move comes amidst speculations that he would join Bharatiya Janata Party.
He, however, denied reports that he will join any national or regional political party. "I will devote time to music," he said. Announcing the decision at a media conference here, the veteran Congress leader criticised both Central and State Congress leadership for not defending him after the trust vote against the Vajpayee government in 1999.
“Since 1999, I have been humiliated in public for bringing down the Vajpayee government with a single vote of mine. Till today, neither my party nor my leaders have come out with the truth and protected me from public criticism. I feel that loyalty to the party has turned into a liability to the party,” Gamang said in a letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
The senior leader was the Chief Minister of Odisha then but had not resigned from the Lok Sabha seat of Koraput constituency. He was widely criticised for casting his vote against the confidence motion moved by then Prime Minister Mr. Vajpayee, which was defeated by 269 to 270 votes.
Gamang said that he participated in the trust vote on April 17, 1999 as a Congress MP and not as the chief minister of Odisha as per the direction of the high command. "I was asked by the Chief Whip of the Congress Party in Parliament to attend the house for participation in voting under anti-defection law which says without permission of party, a member should not abstain from attending the house,” the letter to Sonia said.