Senior Congress leader from Assam Bhubaneswar Kalita on Monday resigned from the Rajya Sabha.
His resignation came on the heels of the unruly scenes witnessed in the Upper House over the Kashmir issue.
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Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced in Rajya Sabha on Monday that the government has repealed Article 370 of the Constitution which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Also Read – Joining BJP is Bhubaneswar Kalita’s new political dream
The government also decided to bifurcate the state into two Union territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
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Kalita did not cite any reason for resigning from Rajya Sabha.
I have resigned from the Rajya Sabha membership today. #Assam
— Bhubaneswar Kalita (@BKalitaINC) August 5, 2019
It is being reported that the resignation may be linked to the Kashmir issue.
Earlier on Monday, Kalita along with Congress MPs Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Ambika Soni had moved one Adjournment Motion notice in Rajya Sabha over the Kashmir crisis.
Congress MPs Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, K Suresh and Manish Tewari also moved an Adjournment Motion in Lok Sabha.
Both houses of the Parliament witnessed a ruckus over the recent political crisis in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu earlier today: I have received letters of resignation from Surendra Nagar, Sanjay Seth(SP MPs) and Bhuvneshwar Kalita(Congress). Resignations have been accepted. pic.twitter.com/3qmSETLRKt
— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2019
Bhubaneswar Kalita contested the last Lok Sabha elections from Mangaldai constituency but lost to Bharatiya Janata Party’s Dilip Saikia.
Born on April 1 in the year 1951 at Rangiya in Kamrup (Rural) district of Assam, Kalita became a member of the Rajya Sabha in 2008 and was re-elected in 2014.
On July 30, Assam’s controversial Congress MP Sanjay Singh had resigned from the Rajya Sabha as well as the party.
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Singh, a descendent of the royal family of Amethi, had joined the BJP within 24 hours of resigning from the Congress.
Singh had said that he left Congress because “leadership is zero in the party”.
It may be recalled that despite strong opposition by members of the Assam Pradesh Congress, Singh was elected as a Rajya Sabha member from Assam in 2015.
But, Bhubaneswar Kalita’s resignation at the crucial junction raised many eyebrows in the Rajya Sabha.
Though Kalita resigned from the Rajya Sabha, he has not resigned from the Congress.
Senior leaders of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee in Guwahati had no prior information that Kalita was going to resign.
Two other Samajbadi Party MPs – Sanjay Seth and Surendra Nagar have also resigned along with Kalita.
Rajya Sabha chairperson M. Venkaiah Naidu accepted resignation of the three MPs on Monday afternoon.
Also Read – Assam: Bhubaneswar Kalita, Dilip Saikia file nomination for Mangaldai seat
Sources in the political circle in Guwahati told Northeast Now that Bhubaneswar Kalita would soon be joining the BJP.
Sixty-eight year old Kalita has been a member of the Congress for almost four decades.
The veteran Congress leader has been aspiring to be the president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee.
Sources said he was not happy with the Congress high-command for not appointing him as the party chief in Assam.