Former Odisha CM Gamang, two family members back in Congress

Bhubaneswar: Former Odisha Chief Minister and Union Minister Giridhar Gamang and former MP Sanjay Bhoi today returned to the Congress party.

Gamang’s wife Hema and son Sisir too rejoined the grand old party in the presence of All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Odisha, Ajoy Kumar, and party treasurer Ajay Maken in New Delhi.

Gamang (80), a tribal leader, had been elected to the Lok Sabha from Koraput constituency in Odisha for nine times in between 1972 and 2004.

He was a Union Minister for around 10 year in governments led by Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and PV Narasimha Rao at the Centre.

The veteran leader had served as the Chief Minister of Odisha from February 17, 1999 to December 6, 1999.

Gamang along with his wife and son had left Congress in 2015 and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He shifted his allegiance to K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi after resigning from BJP last year.

Bhoi, the son of former Union Minister Krupasindhu Bhoi, had taken plunge into politics by quitting his job in a software company some years ago. He got elected to the Lok Sabha from Bargarh constituency in Odisha on a Congress ticket in 2009.

Bhoi had resigned from Congress and joined the BJP after he was denied a ticket by the grand old party in 2019 elections.