Sun Times Bureau
Rayagada, Mar 19:
Former Bissam Cuttack MLA Sarangadhar Kadraka on Tuesday resigned from the BJD and joined the BJP.
Kadraka was elected to the Odisha Assembly twice from Bissam Cuttack (ST) constituency in Rayagada district. While he was elected on a Janata Dal ticket in 1990, he got re-elected again in 2000 on a BJD ticket.
Kadraka,a Dongaria Kondh, was opposed to the mining of bauxite in the Niyamgiri hills by the Vedanta and had described Niyamgiri Hill as a Kamadhenu which protects and nurtures the local people and compared Vedanta with an Asur (demon) who wanted to destroy it.