Senior BJP leader quits Assam govt over delimitation

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former union minister Rajen Gohain on Friday resigned as the chairman of Assam Food and Civil Supplies Corporation in protest against the delimitation of the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency and claimed it will be impossible for the party to win from that seat in the future.

Gohain, who had represented the Parliamentary seat four times, claimed that his discussions with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma regarding the delimitation "did not bring any positive outcome".

Nobody should be given absolute power in the party's state unit, he told reporters without naming anybody.

In a letter to the chief minister, Gohain said the recent delimitation process has rendered the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency ''unwinnable for BJP candidates in the future and has also put the people of the constituency under threat due to demographic change''.

''Despite having numerous rounds of discussions with you, I am afraid that my concerns and deep dissatisfaction on the way the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency has been constituted did not bring any change whatsoever,'' his letter to Sarma read.

Gohain claimed that he had also apprised Union Home Minister Amit Shah of his concerns and the Gandhinagar MP asked him to give his recommendations in writing.

"I did (that) the very next day but unfortunately it did not bring any positive outcome.... I feel betrayed and almost disrespected that a senior member like myself was not heard by his own party leaders on a genuine concern for the party's benefit,'' he said in the letter.

Gohain said that it is with great sadness that he has resigned with immediate effect as the Chairman of the Corporation which is a cabinet-rank post.

''I have been a very obedient soldier of the party for over 25 years and also represented the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat for four consecutive terms which is a span of 20 years and I think my experience on this matter should have been counted for and my concerns for the safety and identity of my people should be respected'', he said.

Later talking to reporters, the former minister of state for railways said that the recent delimitation regarding the assembly constituencies was correct and secure for the indigenous population, but the Nagaon parliamentary constituency has been "a gift" to opposition parties.

He said that the Hindu population of the constituency always felt safe and secure with the BJP and voted for the party even when it had no presence in the panchayat, state or the Centre.

''It was after I won the Nagaon parliamentary constituency and as the party's state president that the rise of BJP in the state began but it was the alliance with the AGP in 2014 that led to the downfall of the BJP in this constituency which went to the Congress in the next election'', he said.

Gohain alleged that this situation came to such a pass due to the party leadership in the state and they must be answerable to members.

Without naming any party leader, he said that there must be ''balance in power. Nobody should be given absolute power and when the leader does not listen to party members, it is bound to deteriorate''.
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'I shall always remain loyal to the BJP. We had worked very hard to build the party and we do not want it to be destroyed. It must be kept alive for always'', Gohain said.

He also said that there should not be any division among the Hindus but now the divide has started.