GUWAHATI: Assam Congress MLA Bharat Chandra Narah resigned from the party on Monday after his wife was denied a ticket to contest the Lok Sabha elections.
Narah, a six-time MLA, was not happy about the snub to his wife Ranee Narah was evident on Sunday when he resigned as the chairman of the party’s state media cell.
In a single sentence resignation letter addressed to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, he wrote, “I do hereby resign from the Indian National Congress with immediate effect.”
Narah was confident that his wife would be nominated from the Lakhimpur seat but the party fielded Uday Shankar Hazarika instead.
Hazarika, a former BJP leader who shifted his allegiance to the Congress a few months ago, will be up against the BJP’s Pradan Baruah. Baruah is seeking a third straight term.
The Congress had a hard time choosing from the two contenders in the Lakhimpur seat. This was reflected in the delay in announcing the name of the candidate. The party had announced the first list of its 12 other candidates on March 13. The name of the Lakhimpur candidate was announced two days ago.
The Congress is contesting 13 of Assam’s 14 seats. It allowed ally Asom Jatiya Parishad to contest from the Dibrugarh seat. Both are components in the state’s 16-party opposition alliance.
Narah, who began his political career in the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), served as a minister during both AGP and Congress regimes.
Ranee represented the Lakhimpur seat in the Lok Sabha for three terms. She also served as a member of the Rajya Sabha for one term and was the Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs between 2012 and 2014.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the resignation of Narah was an internal matter of the Congress.
Asked if Narah will join the BJP, Sarma said, “He did not contact us before resigning. So, we understand it as an internal matter of the Congress. But as I said it before, all Congress leaders will come to us, today or tomorrow. Our door is open for all of them, including (state president) Bhupen Borah.”
On March 15, the Congress’ Barpeta MP Abdul Khaleque resigned from the party after he was denied a ticket. He withdrew his resignation later.
The BJP has named candidates in 13 seats, while its allies AGP and UPPL fielded candidates in two and one seat, respectively.
The Congress has three MPs from the state in the outgoing Lok Sabha, while the BJP has nine, and one seat each is held by the AIUDF and an Independent.
Presently, the BJP's official strength in the 126-member assembly is 61, while its allies AGP and UPPL have nine and seven MLAs, respectively.
In the opposition benches, the Congress has 27 MLAs, AIUDF has 15 members, Bodoland People's Front (BPF) has three and CPI(M) has one MLA.
There is an Independent legislator as well.