Veteran BJP leader from Assam, Rajen Gohain, on Thursday resigned from the party, citing unhappiness over the way old party hands are allegedly being treated by those at helm.
The former Assam BJP president and four-time MP from Nagaon submitted his resignation at the party headquarters here along with 17 other party members, a development incumbent state party president, Dilip Saikia, described as unfortunate and surprising.
“I have intimated the issue to our central leadership,” Saikia said.
Gohain, 72, had joined the party in 1991 and had never lost the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat since winning it in 1999. However, he was neither nominated as the BJP candidate for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls nor was he awarded with an Assembly ticket in 2021. He has since remained out of favour and Thursday’s decision to quit was along expected lines.
Gohain’s departure comes days after the BJP-UPPL combine lost the BTC polls.
Following his resignation, Gohain told reporters: “We joined the party looking up to party stalwarts like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and their ideals and affection, not looking at those who are in charge today. There is no one to look after our concerns.”
“The situation today is that those who have come from other parties are using us as they deem fit. There is no one to give us protection to those who gave their best days of their life to the party... Therefore, I have decided to leave,” Gohain said, adding that BJP was not functioning in the interest of the state.