Ex-Congress Rajya Sabha chief whip joins BJP

Bhubaneshwar Kalita, former Congress chief whip in Rajya Sabha who resigned from the House earlier this week opposing the party's stand on the government's decisions on Jammu and Kashmir, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday.

His resignation was accepted on the day when Home Minister Amit Shah moved the resolution to scrap provisions of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Kalita, whose term in Rajya Sabha was till April 9, 2020, is the second Congress Rajya Sabha member after Sanjay Sinh, a member of the erstwhile Amethi royal family, who has joined the BJP.

Kalita joined the party at its headquarters here in presence of Union minister Piyush Goyal and other senior leaders.