A day after tendering resignation from the Congress, Assam's Lok Sabha MP Pradyut Bordoloi on Wednesday said he might join the BJP because he has been invited. "Well, I suppose so because I have been invited," he said, on being asked if he is joining the BJP. Assam MP Pradyut Bordoloi said, "For me, getting a ticket was not a question of life and death. There were multiple issues. What was important for me was to hold my head high. Congress party has given me a lot...I want to make it very clear that I am in my second term in Lok Sabha, and there are another three years to go. I could have accepted the humiliation if I wanted to remain as an MP. But I decided to leave and work..."
Pradyut Bordoloi resigned from Congress barely 20 days ahead of assembly polls
Notably, he resigned from the Congress barely 20 days ahead of assembly elections in the state. Bordoloi sent his resignation letter to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, state media department chairman Bedabrata Bora said in Guwahati.
Jitendra Singh claims it was a matter of 'differences within the family'
AICC general secretary in-charge of Assam Jitendra Singh and state party chief Gaurav Gogoi, who met the MP in Delhi, claimed that it was a matter of "differences within the family" and "part of an attempt orchestrated by the CM (Himanta Biswa Sarma) through the media to malign Bordoloi politically".
A former state cabinet minister and two-time MP from Nagaon constituency, Bordoloi's son Prateek is a Congress candidate from Margherita seat for the state polls due on April 9. In the one-line resignation letter addressed to Kharge, the MP said, "With an overwhelming sense of sadness today, I hereby tender my resignation from all posts, privileges and the primary membership of the Indian National Congress."
Bora said state party chief Gaurav Gogoi and AICC general secretary in-charge of Assam Jitendra Singh talked to Bordoloi over the issue at the national capital. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Singh said, "The Congress blood runs in the veins of Bordoloi. We are members of one family and will remain so."
Bordoloi has no offer to join the BJP
He claimed that Bordoloi has no offer to join the BJP that he was aware of and said, "No person will go to the BJP. Bhupen Borah recently went, and now he is running to secure a party ticket. No one even greets or invites to share the dais."
The AICC leader was referring to former state Congress president Borah quitting in February and joining the ruling saffron party. Singh, who had called on Borah along with top state leaders immediately after his resignation, had made similar claims of the leader not leaving the Congress.
Gogoi, also talking to reporters, said, "I condemn such news (of Bordoloi's resignation). The chief minister, through the media, has been trying to malign him politically." He said that during the meeting with Bordoloi, they discussed after party strategy to reach out to the people for the ensuing polls. Bordoloi was the chairman of the manifesto committee for the Assembly polls.
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Assam: Congress' Nagaon MP Pradyut Bordoloi resigns from party ahead of Assembly polls
