'Bijoya behind late Dr Hazarika's poll defeat'

BY OUR STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, February 18: BJP tiol executive member and former IT cell tiol convenor Prodyut Bora on Wednesday tendered his resigtion from the party, dropping several bombshells that created a flutter in the State party unit.

In his four-page resigtion letter to BJP president Amit Shah, Bora was critical of MPs Rajen Gohai and Bijoya Chakraborty citing that no BJP member gets elected from the assembly seats in their parliamentary constituencies.

“Rajen Gohain has been an MP four times from gaon, but practically no MLA gets elected from within the nine constituencies that form his Lok Sabha seat. Isn’t this the same case for Bijoya Chakraborty, 3-time BJP MP from Guwahati? How is it that she gets elected again and again, while no BJP member within her parliamentary constituency gets to be an MLA? Isn’t this pattern too much of a coincidence?” Bora said.

Bora also alleged that Chakraborty had a role in the defeat of BJP candidate late Bhupen Hazarika from Tezpur Lok Sabha constituency in the 2004 general election. “If you talk to party old-timers in Guwahati, would they deny that she had a role in the defeat of BJP candidate, Bhupen Hazarika in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections?” Bora said.

He also questioned Chakraborty’s contribution in resolving the Assam’s flood problem when she was the Union water resources minister.

Bora accused some top BJP leaders of engaging in “machitions” with Congress rivals.

An IIM graduate, Bora was also flabbergasted that the BJP was considering on inducting controversial Congress leader Himanta Biswa Sarma into the party.

“Himanta Biswa Sarma was a student leader of the All Assam Students’s Union (AASU). During this time, he also became a money-collector for the outlawed ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom). Caught by the police while on an extortion drive, he was rescued by Congress Chief Minister Hiteswar Saikia who made him join his party,” Bora stated in the letter, also citing allegations against Sarma in the Saradha scam and his inflammatory speeches in the last Lok Sabha elections against the BJP.

He also said currently the BJP Assam unit was being flooded with members with “questioble characters” – like former “dreaded” Ulfa cadres Dhekial Phukan and Kushal Duari who are now vice presidents of the Kishan Morcha.

Bora also described the State BJP president Siddhartha Bhattacharjee as the most “arrogant, ill-tempered and coarse-mouthed office-bearer in BJP Assam’s history”.

The resigtion letter has created a flutter in the State BJP unit, and has set tongues wagging on the possible entry of Himanta Biswa Sarma into the BJP. Significantly, Prodyut Bora had contested unsuccessfully against Sarma in the last assembly elections from Jalukbari constituency.

BJP insiders felt that if Himanta joins the party, he could bring along a number of Congress leaders and subsequently old-timers in the BJP could be sidelined.

“The problem will be in allotment of tickets in the assembly elections. Already prospective BJP candidates have started to lay the ground work in their respective constituencies for the 2016 assembly elections. If Himanta brings along sitting legislators, there could be a conflict for party tickets in those constituencies,” the insiders said, citing the negative impacts.