Bhubaneswar: Suspended BJD MP from Kendrapara Baijayant "Jay" Panda's decision to quit the party is also linked to his worsening relationship with chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

Panda, in his letter to Naveen, narrated how Biju had drafted him into politics.

He also reminded Naveen that he was one of the founding members of the BJD and how he stood behind him when the party parliamentary party had spilt in 2002 and was on the verge of another following an alleged coup against the chief minister on May 29, 2012.

"It is ironic that many of the worst opponents and critics of you during our party's first dozen years are now holding key positions in the party, while most of those who struggled with you to overcome them have been discarded," he said in the letter.

Panda, who was the face of Naveen in New Delhi, landed in trouble after he developed close proximity with some BJP leaders, including the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after the BJP came to power in 2014.

His relations with the party had strained after he wrote a column in a local newspaper in which he had argued for the BJD engaging in introspection following its debacle in the panchayat election. He had referred to how the party had forgotten its original strengths and descended into hooliganism and corruption.

The relationship of Panda with the party had further soured after he was pelted with stones, bricks and eggs while going to inaugurate a water tank built with his MPLAD fund in the Mahanga area in May last year. Panda had accused health minister Pratap Jena, who is the MLA from Mahanga, of being behind the attack. The government had dilly-dallied in taking action against the culprits.

"I was extremely saddened that even then you did not bother to call to enquire about my health and safety, nor even when we met several times thereafter at party forums," he said.

Relations between Panda and Naveen worsened when his family-owned TV channel started targeting the chief minister's office and his private secretary V.K. Pandian.

Several BJD leaders alleged that Panda had launched a campaign against Pandian, which did not go down well with the chief minister.

"The way his TV ran the news of some BJP workers entering the official residence of Pandian on February 11 had upset the chief minister," said a senior BJD leader.

Panda was later accused of submitting false affidavit before the Election Commission in 2014.