RAIPUR: In a major setback to the Opposition in Chhattisgarh, senior tribal leader Nand Kumar Sai on Monday resigned from the BJP, ending his 45-year-old association with the saffron party. Later in the day, he joined Congress at the party headquarters Rajiv Bhawan in Raipur.
The BJP stalwart switching allegiance to the ruling party is seen as a big political development in an election year. Sai took the primary membership of the Congress party in the presence of chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and other senior leaders.
He was a popular tribal face for the BJP and the Centre offered him the responsibility as the chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Tribes in 2017. Sai, a former BJP state president, is likely to give fresh impetus to the Congress across the tribal belts of north Sarguja region and south Bastar zone during the Assembly elections scheduled later this year and the Lok Sabha polls in 2024.
Chhattisgarh has 29 assembly seats for tribals in the 90-member House, while four out of the 11 Lok Sabha constituencies are reserved tribal-dominated seats. Congress state president Mohan Markam said that Sai after resigning from BJP has sent a request letter to join the Congress. “We have secured the approval of it from the party high command,” Markam added.
“Sai was among the big names for BJP when the party came into existence. He is a prominent tribal leader, who lived a very simple life dedicated to the growth and welfare of Adivasis and the poor. Sai faced disregard, loss of pride and felt dejected in BJP where he served for over 40 years”, Baghel said.
A two-time Lok Sabha member and three-time MLA, Sai said he was deeply pained to see the BJP as created by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani no longer exists.
He was also a member of the Rajya Sabha twice. Sai after joining the Congress praised the initiatives of the Congress government, including the flagship programme ‘Narva-Garuva-Ghurwa-Baari’ and the ambitious project ‘Ram Van Gaman Path’, the route believed to have been undertaken by Lord Ram during his exile in the state.
While it remains to be seen what responsibility the Congress is going to offer to Sai, who has always remained away from controversies, the BJP leaders nevertheless were upset to find their veteran tribal leader leaving the party. Sai in his resignation letter addressed to the BJP state president Arun Sao has alleged that the leaders within the party were tarnishing his reputation by levelling false allegations.
Fact File