Chandan Mitra, a two-time Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and editor of The Pioneer has resigned from the BJP, reported The Indian Express quoting sources.

Although it is not confirmed if party President Amit Shah has accepted his resignation.

Mitra was nominated to Rajya Sabha from 2003 to 2009 after which the BJP had elected him as a Madhya Pradesh MP from June 2010 to 2016.

Mitra, who used to be close to veteran BJP leaders like LK Advani, was sidelined under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, the report added.

Of late, Mitra has been publicly critical of the party. He termed the BJP’s defeat in the recently conducted Kairana bypoll a “serious setback” while talking to NDTV.