GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has urged all opposition MLAs to join the ruling party and work together for the public.
This comes after Congress MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi, the legislator from Mariani constituency, announced that he would quit the grand old party and join the BJP in the coming days.
In a press meet the Chief Minister of Assam, Dr, Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "What will they do in the opposition benches for five years? I would rather say they should join us. Since we are working for the welfare of people irrespective of caste, creed, and religion, I appeal to them (opposition members) to join us and work together for the public".
Notably, Kurmi who was one of the loyal Congress workers and lone legislator from Mariani post his resignation said, "I'm leaving Congress as High Command in Delhi & Guwahati leaders give priority to elderly leaders only. We'd told them Congress has a good chance of coming to power this time & we shouldn't forge an alliance with AIUDF as it would be a mistake".
Kurmi, who has been elected to the Assam assembly consecutive four times, has submitted his resignation papers to the Assembly speaker on Friday.
Before going to submit the resignation papers, the four-time MLA openly criticized and vented anger against some Assam Congress leaders including its president Ripun Bora. He categorically blamed APCC president Bora for the party's recent poll debacles.
"After the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, I appealed to Ripun Bora to quit the president post in a party meeting organize to find out the cause of our dismal performances. But he did not pay heed to me. So, our party has to pay the price, " said Kurmi adding that Rockeybool Hossain is also responsible for the Grand Old party's election debacles. He also criticized the opposition leader, Debabrat Saikia.
However, Kurmi revealed that he became disgruntled as he was ignored by the party leadership. " I knew it well that the party high command will not elevate me as the APCC president. The high command totally ignored me," he said.
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