Bhubaneswar, May 26 -- Biju Janata Dal (BJD) lawmaker Debashish Samantaray on Monday quit the party and also resigned from the Rajya Sabha, alleging that he was being "systematically belittled" in the organisation, in a move that came as a setback for the Odisha's principal opposition party. A long-time associate of BJD president and former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Samantaray (66) told reporters that he would join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) soon. In his resignation letter to Patnaik, Samantaray said: "I do hereby resign from the primary membership of BJD. I have always dedicated myself to the interest of the party and have, over the years, worked for the party with utmost conviction and commitment. However, of late I have been systematically belittled in the party." Samantaray's resignation comes after two other Rajya Sabha MPs - Sujeet Kumar and Mamata Mahanta - quit the party and joined the BJP in August and September in 2024. Both were later elected to the Rajya Sabha on BJP tickets....