India, Aug. 20 -- Dharmasala (Jajpur): Citing personal reasons, Dharmasala Block Chairman Pravat Kumar Balabantaray resigned from his post today. His resignation comes just days before the scheduled voting on a no-confidence motion against him on August 22.

The political tussle in Dharmasala block had intensified after panchayat samiti members submitted the no-confidence motion to Jajpur Sub-Collector Tapas Ranjan Dehury on August 11. With Pravat being the brother of former BJD MLA Pranab Balabantaray, the move was widely seen as a power struggle between Dharmasala MLA Himanshu Sekhar Sahu and the former legislator. The development was also viewed as a challenge to senior BJD leader from Jajpur, Pranab Prakash Das.

There are 45 panchaya...