Against the party, for the nation; Congress Chief Whip Bhuvaneshwar Kalita quits Congress which stood against scrapping of Article 370

New Delhi, August 5: A decision taken over the heat of the ongoing session in the Parliament over Article 370 and slating a major embarrassment for Congress, Congress Party’s Chief Whip in the Rajya Sabha and party’s Assam MP Bhuvaneshwar Kalita resigned from the party. Bhuvaneshwar Kalita’s resignation from the membership of the Upper House on Monday citing opposition to the stand taken by his party on the Kashmir issue.

 

Kalita said in his purported resignation letter, “The Congress has asked me to issue a whip regarding the Kashmir issue. However, the truth is that country’s opinion has changed and this whip is against the people’s wish. I will not follow this whip and so I am resigning from the Congress.”

 

The MP claimed that the Congress party was committing suicide by opposing the abrogation of Article 370. In a letter circulating online, Bhubaneswar Kalita said that the party leadership had asked him to issue a whip but he felt that the "whip was against the nation's sentiments". Thus, he said, he decided to resign from the party.

Kalita was Congress MP from Assam and had earlier contested the last Lok Sabha elections from Mangaldai constituency but lost to Bharatiya Janata Party’s Dilip Saikia.

In the heat of the ongoing debate on government’s Jammu and Kashmir resolutions in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, two important resignations from the House came as a major trouble for the Congress. Along with Congress Party’s Chief Whip Bhubaneshwar Kalita, SP’s Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh Sanjay Seth resigned from the House, boosting the BJP ahead of the crucial vote on two resolutions on J&K today.

The development comes in the wake of Union Home Minister Amit Shah moving a proposal in Parliament regarding annulment of Article 370, which is being opposed by several parties including Congress.