Odisha Sun Times Bureau

Bhubaneswar, Mar 10:
Senior Congress leader from Keonjhar and mines trader Sanatan Mahakud announced his resignation from the party today.
Mahakud told a local television channel over phone that he has sent his resignation letter to the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Jayadev Jena and the AICC.
Mahakud was the Congress candidate from the Champua assembly constituency in Keonjhar district in the 2009 elections and had lost to independent candidate Jitu Patnaik by a very narrow margin.
In his resignation letter, Mahakud has alleged favouritism in the allotment of party tickets for the forthcoming polls and cited it as the major reason for resigning from the party.
However, Banbihari Pahi, president, district Congress committee, Keonjhar said he had not received any resignation letter from Mahakud. He said he had contacted OPCC president Jayadev Jena who also told him that he was unaware of  Mahakud's decision.
Mahakud was known to have been a close associate of Jena.