Ex-BJP MP resigns from Cabinet rank, criticises delimitation

Only saying the party does not need Miya votes is not enough, Rajen Gohain said.

BJP leader Rajen Gohain after resigning from the cabinet rank, outside Janata Bhawan, in Guwahati, on August 18, 2023. | Photo Credit: PTI

GUWAHATI: Former Union Minister and four-time Bharatiya Janata Party MP, Rajen Gohain on August 18 resigned from Cabinet rank as a protest against the delimitation of Parliament and Assembly constituencies in Assam.

He represented the Nagaon (Nowgong) Lok Sabha seat four times from 1999 until the 2019 polls. He was unhappy with the reshaping of the constituency, which he said would benefit the “other party” without specifying which.

Mr Gohain took a swipe at Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

“The Nagaon Lok Sabha seat has been handed over to the other party. It is not enough to say we do not need the votes of the Miya (Bengali-speaking Muslims) community and claiming to preserve the Assamese culture and Hindutva without any action on the ground,” he said.

He said he had expressed his dissatisfaction with the delimitation process to the Chief Minister but it did not work.

“I feel betrayed as a senior member of the BJP. My resignation should not be seen as going against the party we built in Assam with our hard work,” Mr Gohain said.