One more sitting MLA and three former legislators of the Congress in Odisha Wednesday resigned from the party protesting selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha and assembly elections.

Jacob Pradhan, sitting Congress MLA of G Udaygiri seat in Kandhamal district, quit the party a day after filing nomination as an Independent candidate from the same seat.

The party denied ticket to him this time and fielded Shyamaghana Pradhan from G Udaygiri.

Three former MLAs of tribal dominated Kalahandi district alleged that the party was selling tickets to candidates with the highest bidding.

They said, "There is no consideration for eligible candidates."

Gobardhan Das, Kumar Mani Sabar and Jugaram Behera sent a single resignation letter to Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik.

"We had been working to strengthen the Indian National Congress for two decades. However, we were ignored and sidelined by the party during selection of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections," the letter said.

Das, Sabar and Behera are former MLAs of Junagarh, Narla and Dharmagarh assembly constituencies.

Rajgangpur ex-MLA Gregory Minz had also resigned from the Congress Tuesday.

Earlier, four sitting MLAs - Nabakishore Das of Jharsuguda, Jogesh Singh of Sundergarh, Krushna Chandra Sagaria of Koraput and Prakash Behera of Salipur have resigned after being denied nomination for the 2019 elections.

Odisha will go for simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections in four phases beginning April 11.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)