Former Congress Rajya Sabha chief whip Bhubaneshwar Kalita joins BJP

Welcoming Kalita into the saffron party, the BJP in a series of tweets said that his contributions in the political and social world are immense and to leave Congress for principles and join the BJP is praiseworthy.

Kalita’s resignation yesterday came as a shock to the party as he had – minutes before resigning – signed a notice demanding a discussion in Rajya Sabha on the Kashmir situation. As the House met, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu announced Kalita has submitted his resignation.

“The resignation of Bhubaneshwar Kalita (who was the Congress’s chief whip in Rajya Sabha) should be seen as symptomatic as deeper divisions within the party regarding our response to the Government’s decision,” former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar had told The Indian Express.

While several Congress leaders welcomed the Government of India’s decision to modify Article 370, scrapping the special status provided to Jammu and Kashmir, the party opposed the way in which it was executed. The CWC in a statement had said “it deplores the unilateral, brazen and totally undemocratic manner in which Article 370….was abrogated and the State of Jammu and Kashmir was dismembered by misinterpreting the provisions of the Constitution. Every principle of Constitutional law, States’ rights, Parliamentary procedure and democratic governance was violated.”