Baijayant Jay Panda today announced that he was quitting Odisha's ruling Biju Janta Dal.

"It's with deep anguish, hurt and sorrow that I have decided to quit the politics into which our BJD has descended," Jay Panda wrote in a letter to BJD chief and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, adding that he would convey his decision to the Lok Sabha Speaker.

Panda has been a parliamentarian of the BJD since 2000 and among the most prominent leaders from Odisha.

He was suspended by the party in January on "disciplinary grounds."