Former Odisha chief minister Giridhar Gamang rejoined the Congress after over eight years on Wednesday. He quit Congress in 2015.
Gamang, who is a prominent tribal leader of the Koraput region, served as the chief minister of Odisha and as well as president of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC). He was elected to the Lok Sabha nine times.
Though he quit the party and joined the BJP, Gamng had not uttered a single word against Sonia Gandhi and the Congress high command, a party leader said.
Last year in August, Gamang along with his son Sisir met then All India Congress Committee (AICC) in charge of Odisha A Chellakumar in the presence of OPCC president Sarat Pattanayak and Koraput MP Saptagiri Ulaka. After the meeting, Gamang’s son Sisir told reporters that they had already conveyed their desire to join the Congress.
Gamang had joined K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) after resigning from BJP a few months ago. But, he decided to join Congress as the BRS has no such immediate plan for Odisha.
Meanwhile, OPCC president Sarat Patnaik said that the Congress welcomes the leaders of other parties as well as those who left the party in the past.
(With PTI inputs)
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