Former Odisha chief minister Giridhar Gamang on Wednesday joined the Congress along with his wife and son almost nine years after he quit the party.

Congress is the only party in the country that does principled politics, said the former nine-time MP from Koraput who had joined the BJP in 2015 and switched to the BRS in January 2023.

Gamang asserted that he never left the Congress party's thoughts and ideology.

He along with his wife Hema Gamang and son Shishir Gamang and another BJP leader Sanjay Bhoi, also a former MP, formally joined the party at the AICC headquarters here in the presence of party treasurer Ajay Maken along with AICC in-charge for Odisha Ajoy Kumar.

Giridhar Gamang was elected for the first time to the fifth Lok Sabha from Koraput in 1972 and he subsequently was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1977, 1980, 1984, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1998 and 2004. He was the Chief Minister of Odisha from February 17, 1999 to December 6, 1999.

His wife Hema Gamang won from Koraput constituency in the 1999 elections to the 13th Lok Sabha, while he was serving as the Chief Minister of Odisha.

Sanjay Bhoi was a former MP from the Bargarh Lok Sabha constituency in Odisha on the Congress ticket in 2009.

"We are happy that today Giridhar Gamang, Hema Gamang ji, Sanjay Bhoi ji and Shishir Gamang ji are rejoining the Congress Party family. These leaders have contributed significantly to the development of Orissa.

"Their return to Congress will strengthen the party and its ideology. On behalf of the Congress Party, we welcome all of them," Maken said after welcoming the leaders.

He also said that these leaders have played a crucial role in the development of Odisha and their return to the party will strengthen the state party unit and our ideology.

"Giridhar ji is popular not only in the tribal society but also in every community," Ajoy Kumar said.

Gamang said only the Congress can give respect to its leaders.

"The Congress gave me a ticket 11 times, which no other party can do. I remained in another party, but only Congress can give respect," he said.

"There is no particular reason. I will live where I was born. I never left the party, its thoughts and ideology," he said when asked why he left the party and has now returned.

Asked about Rahul Gandhi's Nyay Yatra, he said, "The step taken by Rahul Gandhi is not political but constitutional. We will continue to fight for social, economic and political justice."

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