Assam Congress MP Bhubaneswar Kalita Quits Rajya Sabha

A CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Pricked by conscience, Congress’ Rajya Sabha chief whip Bhubaneswar Kalita resigned from the Upper House on Monday over the party’s stand on the government’s move to revoke Article 370 to bifurcate Jammu & Kashmir into two Union Territories. He also dropped a broad hint that he is not going to be with the Congress any longer.

“Yes, I have submitted my resignation,” Kalita told The Sentinel. The veteran Congress MP also tweeted: “I have resigned from the Rajya Sabha membership today.”

In a release issued to the press on Monday, Kalita, while confirming his resignation from the Upper House, dropped enough hints that he is not going to continue in the Congress. He said, “As far as Article 370 is concerned, Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru had himself not been in favor of it. He had said that as time progress, the sheen of this Article will wear off.

“Today I feel that this is not the Congress that I had joined decades back and the present scenario is worrisome. My conscience doesn’t allow me to be a part of such negative developments and still continue in the Congress party.

“I and many within the party are disillusioned with the leaderless state of the party, which will ultimately ruin the party. This is a clear path of self-destruction that the party has taken, and hence I cannot continue to be in the party anymore.”

Sources in the Congress, however, said that Kalita had been asked by the party leadership to issue a whip to its party members over the Kashmir issue. Kalita, according to the sources, opposed the move and submitted his resignation. Indications are coming in that Kalita may join the BJP in the coming days. The development came close on the heels of Sanjay Sinh resigning from the Rajya Sabha.

Amidst uproar in the Rajya Sabha over the scrapping of Article 370, the government’s efforts to get some crucial provisions on Jammu and Kashmir passed in the Rajya Sabha got a boost with the resignation of Kalita and another Opposition leader – Samajwadi Party’s Sanjay Seth.

The fall in Opposition’s strength in the elders’ House is going to help the BJP to see through the key resolutions on Jammu & Kashmir. The Congress’ strength in the Upper House has come down to 46 and the SP now has 10 members.

Also Read: Assam Congress MP Bhubaneswar Kalita resigns from Rajya Sabha