Debashish Samantaray on Monday resigned as a Rajya Sabha member and from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD)’s primary membership, alleging systematic belittling within the organisation, ahead of his expected induction into the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).Debashish Samantaray submitting his resignation as a Rajya Sabha member to vice-president C P Radhakrishnan. (X)Samantaray’s resignation came after Rajya Sabha members Mamata Mohanta and Sujeet Kumar quit the BJD and joined the BJP in 2024. The BJD lost power in Odisha in June 2024 after a 24-year rule. With Samantray’s exit, the BJD now has fuve lawmakers in the Rajya Sabha. Samantaray submitted his resignation as a Rajya Sabha member to vice-president C P Radhakrishnan.In his resignation letter to BJD chief Naveen Patnaik, Samantaray said he increasingly felt ignored and undervalued. “I have always dedicated myself to the interest of the party and have, over the years, worked for the party with utmost conviction and commitment. ...I have been systematically belittled in the party...the party does not require my services,” he wrote.The resignation came months after Samantaray stepped down as vice-president of the BJD senior citizens’ cell in November 2025, citing dissatisfaction with the party’s functioning. In his earlier communication to Patnaik, he alleged that the party had drifted away from the ideology and principles associated with former chief minister Biju Patnaik.Referring to the BJD’s defeat in the assembly elections and subsequent political setbacks, Samantaray claimed that the party leadership failed to undertake serious introspection or corrective measures.Samantaray, 66, a three-time assembly member, was elected to the Rajya Sabha in February 2024.