In another jolt to the grand old Congress, The working President of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, Rana Goswami and West Bengal Congress leader Kaustav Bagchi have tendered their resignation today i.e. on 28 February.
Earlier in the day, Himachal Pradesh Minister of the Public Works Department (PWD) Vikramaditya Singh stepped down from his position, a day after the Rajya Sabha election result in the state.
In Assam, Goswami was the former MLA of Jorhat, he is headed to New Delhi where he is likely to join BJP. Earlier on Tuesday, when asked about the speculations of Goswami switching sides, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma had said he had no information about it, but “he is a powerful leader of the Congress and if he joins the BJP, I will welcome it”.
Meanwhile, in West Bengal, the state Congress leader Kaustav Bagchi resigned from the party claiming “lack of respect.”
Bagchi, who had his head tonsured after being released on bail following his arrest over comments against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee last year has sent his resignation letter to Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, news agecny PTI has reported. When he was asked about this descision, Bagchi said told PTI, “Maybe people will call me anti-party now. But, I have been saying one thing again and again that I am against Congress joining hands with the corrupt TMC.” The Congress and the TMC are part of the opposition bloc INDIA.
Bagchi was also asked about his plans and will he also join BJP. “You have to wait a day or two. Everything will be clear… but I would like to say that at the moment it’s only BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari who can oust the Trinamool Congress government from West Bengal,” he said as quoted by PTI.
Leaders who joined BJP this month
Earlier this month, Congress MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha resigned as state Congress working president and along with another party legislator, Basanta Das, expressed support for the BJP-led government’s “development agenda”. Basavaraj Patil, who resigned from the Congress, joined the BJP on 27 February. On 25 February, BSP Lok Sabha MP from Ambedkar Nagar Ritesh Pandey resigned from the party’s primary membership and joined the BJP in New Delhi. Prior to that, Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan joined the BJP in Mumbai on February 13.
It was also reported that Congress MP from Singhbhum (Jharkhand), Geeta Koda, wife of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, is also set to quit the party and join the BJP. In Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan too resigned from Congress. Other heavy weights who quit the grand old party include Milind Deora and Baba Siddique.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)
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Published: 28 Feb 2024, 01:51 PM IST