In a major jolt to Congress ahead of the panchayat polls due in early 2022, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) working president and former MP Pradeep Majhi resigned from the party’s primary membership on Friday.

The resignation letter was sent to the party’s interim president Sonia Gandhi.

A prominent tribal leader and former MP from Nabarangpur Lok Sabha constituency, Pradeep Majhi had good command over tribal communities in Western Odisha. He was at the forefront of the party’s fight against the ruling BJD on various issues.

Majhi said that he wanted to serve people while being in Congress, but the party “lacks enthusiasm”.

“With profound respect and obedience, I beg to state with extreme sorrow and pain that I have decided to resign from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress,” Majhi said in the letter.