Bhubaneswar, Jan 16 (IANS): In a major setback for the Congress ahead of elections in Odisha, state Working President Naba Kisore Das on Wednesday resigned from the party to join the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

Das, a sitting MLA from Jharsuguda Assembly constituency, resigned from the primary membership of the party and also as the state Working President.

In a letter to All India Congress Committee (AICC) President Rahul Gandhi, Das said he is resigning from the Congress to join the ruling BJD.

He is likely to join the BJD on January 24, a day before the scheduled visit of Gandhi.

"The people and voters of my area want that I contest the next election from BJD as they want our area to develop and that I should join hands with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik," he wrote in his letter.

He said he will place all valuable suggestions of the people before the Chief Minister during his visit to Jharsuguda where Patnaik will inaugurate a cancer hospital on January 24.

Das had defeated BJD candidate and former Assembly Speaker Kishore Kumar Mohanty twice in the Jharsuguda constituency in the 2009 and 2014 elections.