Assam BJP’s bid to convince rebels in Barak Valley fails, senior leader quits

Former deputy speaker of Assam assembly and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader, Dilip Kumar Paul, on Wednesday resigned from the party and said he will contest the coming election as an independent.

The decision came after the party denied him a candidature in this year's assembly election. Paul claimed that the BJP in Assam is being run by people involved in various syndicates and they did not want him because he refused to take part in it.

“Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is a good man but he is helpless before the syndicate raj. If we look at the list of candidates in Cachar district, we can see candidates who will help in smuggling of illegal drugs, various weapons etc. The only obstacle for them was me getting the BJP ticket in Silchar, and this is the reason they denied my candidature,” said Paul.

The development came after senior minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited Silchar on Tuesday evening and met the party leaders of Barak Valley. It was an attempt to convince the leaders, who were denied tickets and were planning to contest the polls as independents. The list includes former deputy speaker Dilip Kumar Paul, former Union minister Kabindra Purkayastha's son Kanad Purkayastha and two sitting MLAs.

While speaking with party workers in Silchar on Tuesday evening, Sarma tried to evoke nationalistic sentiments and said that Sanatan Dharma is not safe in Barak Valley. “To save India in Barak Valley, to save Sanatan Dharma in Barak Valley, the only way is unity,” he said, adding it was needed to stop the ‘communal’ All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) from ruling Barak Valley.

He took a jibe at the party's leaders who are now rebelling. He said, “No individual is bigger than the party and no party is bigger than the nation.”

Recently former Union minister Kabindra Purkayastha had claimed that Silchar MP Rajdeep Roy didn't want his son Kanad Purkayastha to get a BJP ticket. Paul also blamed Roy.

However, Rajdeep Roy made it clear that he was not the reason behind Dilip Kumar Paul and Kanad Purkayastha's failure in getting party tickets. He said, “I am a part of the screening committee and we sent so many names. It was the central high command who took the final decision.”