"I have quit as a member of the Rajya Sabha. I have sent my resignation to the Chairman," he told reporters in New Delhi. The senior BJP leader said he had resigned from the Upper House to devote more time to "resurrect" the party in the hill state where it lost at all the five Lok Sabha seats.

"I will work like an ordinary party worker to resurrect the BJP in Uttarakhand and take it to the victory path in the 2012 assembly elections," he said.

Voices of dissent grew louder in the Uttarakhand BJP following the defeat of the party in the recent Lok Sabha elections. The Koshiyari camp has been demanding resignation of Chief Minister B C Khanduri.

The BJP high command, which is grappling with the situation arising out of dissenting voices from some prominent central leaders, has been in favour of maintaining status quo on the issue of chief ministership.