Bhubaneswar, Sept. 4: The central leadership’s intervention has failed to resolve the crisis in the Odisha BJP arising out of the resignation of K.V. Singhdeo as the legislature party leader last week.

Sources said efforts to placate the MLA from Patnagarh, a scion of Balangir royal family, have failed even though the former Union minister and the party’s Odisha affairs in-charge Santosh Gangwar today maintained that Singhdeo continues to be the BJP legislature party leader in the state.

“He had some problems. But he is still the leader,” said Gangwar, who held a meeting with senior party leaders here yesterday to iron out differences. The party’s national general secretary (organisation), Ram Lal, was also present at the meeting.

Singhdeo, however, remained adamant, insisting that his resignation was final and irreversible. “I am not going to withdraw my resignation. When I submitted it to the leadership I had written that it should be accepted with immediate effect,” he said. He made it clear that he was in no mood for a compromise.

Sources said Singhdeo’s differences with state BJP chief Jual Oram had become so irreconcilable that chances of rapprochement appeared remote. Soon after submitting his resignation, the stalwart from Balangir had said that he decided to step down as the legislature party leader as Oram had lost faith in him.

Party sources said Singhdeo was aggrieved as the state leadership did not appear to be in favour of revoking the suspension of Bonei MLA Bhimsen Choudhury, who had stirred a controversy by abstaining from voting during the Rajya Sabha election in 2010.