Bhubaneswar, Mar 30 (IANS): A sitting Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP resigned on Saturday after his son was denied a ticket to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Odisha.

In his resignation letter to BJD President and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Bhadrak MP Arjun Charan Sethi also quit as the party's district chief.

"I was elected six times as an MP and twice as MLA from the Janata Dal and the BJD. I never hesitated to take on challenges to help the BJD party grow in the district.

"In the last few months, I met you time to time and was also given assurance that my son would contest from Bhadrak due to my old age but unfortunately his name was deleted from the final candidate list," he said in the letter.

Sethi said he visited the Naveen Niwas in Bhubaneswar to meet the Chief Minister but was denied an audience.

"The BJD and yourself have made it abundantly clear that I am unwanted in the party," he added.

The party has given a ticket to Manjulata Mandal, spouse of sitting Dhamnagar MLA Muktikanta Mandal, to contest from the Bhadrak parliamentary constituency.