Orissa Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Manmohan Samal resigned on Wednesday evening in the wake of a controversy generated by his alleged involvement in a sex scandal.

Mr. Samal, who has been under pressure from various quarters for the past several days, met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at his residence and handed over his resignation letter.

The CM has accepted his resignation and forwarded it to the Governor, said Govt. soures.

Mr. Samal, who is also BJP’s Deputy Leader in State, told journalists that “To keep the image of my party and BJD-BJP Government intact, I resigned".

The Opposition parties stalled the Assembly session demanding that Mr. Samal step down.

A section of the local media last month reported that Samal, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, was involved in an affair with a woman from his constituency and had spent a night with her recently in Delhi.

Although Samal termed the allegation as baseless, he, however, in a statement admitted that he had met a woman from his constituency during his stay at the Orissa Bhavan in Delhi in November.

But members of the Congress, the main opposition party in the state, alleged that the minister was involved in an extra-marital affair with the woman.