GUWAHATI:Former Assam Minister and senior Congress leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, who had unsuccessfully mounted a revolt against Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, is likely to join the BJP.
Meanwhile, across the political divide, BJP National Executive member Prodyut Bora, who resigned from the party on Wednesday, hinted at the possibility of Sarma joining the party.
Bora also expressed his displeasure against the BJP opening its doors to the “state’s most corrupt politician -- Sarma”.
In a Facebook post, the former BJP leader said his resignation was the outcome of a gradual disillusionment with the general drift of the party at both the national and state-levels.
He cited five reasons for quitting the saffron party-- “Assam being placed fairly low on the priority of the BJP central leadership; Subversion of the democratic tradition by Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo; Corruption in Assam BJP; Party’s dalliances with corrupt Sarma and state president Siddhartha Bhattacharya’s actions and utterances”.
“I am still a great advocate of change from within. For many years I had hoped against hope that change would take place in Assam BJP and that it would emerge as the only real alternative to the misrule of the Congress. Today I am not sure of that anymore,” he said.
Later talking to reporters, Bora said he was increasingly being sidelined in the party.
“Things in the BJP today have come to such a pass that the leaders today value him (Sarma) much more than me,” Bora said.
Incidentally, Bora had unsuccesfully contested against Sarma in the 2011 Assembly polls from the Jalukbari constituency.
Sarma had resigned from the Cabinet in 2014 at the peak of the dissidence against Gogoi.
Recently, Sarma was grilled by the CBI in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam.