Giridhar Gamang

Giridhar Gamang (born 8 April 1943) is an Indian politician & leader of the Indian National Congress and former leader of Bharatiya Janata Party and a former Chief Minister of Odisha.

He has resigned BJP in 2023.

He was born at Dibirisingi village in Rayagada district of Odisha.

In 1972, he was elected for the first time to the 5th Lok Sabha from Koraput.

Subsequently, he was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1977, 1980, 1984, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1998 and 2004.

In 1998, while he was a member of the 12th parliament, he was asked to become Chief minister of Odisha.

Two months later, there was a vote-of-confidence against the BJP government and Giridhar still went to the parliament to vote against the government as he was from congress (despite the fact that he had to quit either being CM or the MP office and become MLA, within six months).

The government lost power by one vote (269–270) and it is widely believed that if Giridhar had abstained, the speaker, G. M. C. Balayogi would have used his vote to save the government in case of tie.

He was the Chief Minister of Odisha from 17 February 1999 to 6 December 1999.

His wife, Hema Gamang, won from Koraput constituency in the 1999 elections to the 13th Lok Sabha, while he was serving as the Chief Minister of Odisha.

The fall of government resulted in another fresh general election in May 1999.

He lost the Koraput Lok Sabha seat for the first time in the 2009 elections to Jayaram Pangi of the Biju Janata Dal.

In January 2023, he quit Bharatiya Janata Party to join Bharat Rashtra Samithi.