8 quit BJP after party offers Udharbond seat to former Cong MLA

Silchar: In a setback to BJP ahead of the state assembly elections, eight senior party leaders from the Udharbond constituency resigned on Friday, alleging “Congressisation” of the party in Cachar and across the state.The resignations have come in protest against the party’s decision to field Rajdeep Goala, a former Congress MLA from the Lakhipur constituency, as its candidate from Udharbond for the April 9 polls. The party leadership also dropped sitting MLA Mihir Kanti Shome from the constituency — a move that appears to have triggered resentment. The leaders — Basudeb Sharma, Nabarun Chakraborty, Hemanga Shekhar Das, Shyamu Roy, Biswajit Dey, Kanchan Singha, Mithun Nath, and Joyjyoti Dey — were associated with BJP’s Cachar district committee and Udharbond mandal unit.Terming the development a “betrayal” of long-time party workers, the leaders said the growing influx of politicians from rival parties was undermining BJP’s core ideology. “We dedicated our lives to BJP, following the vision of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Kabindra Purkayastha. But now in Assam, the party is being flooded by Congress leaders and is being used to fulfil the ambitions of a few individuals,” said Basudeb Sharma.