Former Odisha chief minister Giridhar Gamang resigned from the BJP on Wednesday, alleging that he had been humiliated by the party. He joined the BJP in 2015 after quitting the Congress.

Announcing his resignation, Gamang, a nine-time MP alleged that the party was not giving him due importance.

“I can tolerate insult, but not humiliation,” said Gamang.

When he joined the BJP after leaving the Congress in 2015, there were high expectations that he would be projected as the tribal face of the saffron party in Odisha.

In a letter to the party president J.P. Nadda, Gamang, 81, said: “I realised that I am unable to discharge my political, social and moral duty towards the people of Odisha for the past several years. Hence I tender my resignation from the primary membership of the BJP with immediate effect.”

The party, however, did not give importance in the subsequent election after joining and he had been living on the margins of the party. His son Sisir, who had hoped that his father’s clout would help him rise in politics, also failed to make his mark in the political arena.

During his tenure as chief minister, Odisha was hit by the Super Cyclone in 1999. He was also in the news for voting against Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government in Parliament in 1999. His single vote had brought the Vajpayee government down.

Gamang’s son Sisir also resigned from the party. The development comes after Giridhar accompanied by his son Sisir met the Telangana chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on January 13. Speculations are rife that he may join Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS).