Assam BJP MLA Alleges 'Political Wipeout' Of Old-Timers, Quits Party

Assam BJP MLA Shiladitya Dev has given his resignation to the party after he was denied a ticket to contest the election this time. Mr Dev said he will contest as an independent.

Mr Dev alleged he was not given a party ticket since he had been vocal about the issues of Hindu refugees, problems in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and delay in framing rules for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA.

The BJP MLA from Hojai, who is among the BJP 12 MLAs denied tickets this time, told NDTV that "time will decide if people are with BJP or not."

Mr Dev has been with the BJP for the last three decades. He alleged a "political wipeout" of BJP old timers in Assam is going on.

"I have already given my resignation to the party and this was not easy for me. With a heavy heart, I have resigned. I have been associated with BJP for the last 30 years. Now, I will contest as an independent candidate in the election. The reason is the candidate which BJP has selected has a background of being a land mafia and other criminal activities. People of Hojai will not be secured in their hands. If Congress wins, it will become Ajmal's Hojai," Mr Dev said, referring to All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Badruddin Ajmal.

The BJP on Tuesday released a list of three candidates for the second phase of the Assam election. It named Ramakrishna Ghosh as the candidate from Hojai seat in place of Mr Dev.

"BJP is no longer the party of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Deen Dayal Updahyaya, Pramod Mahajan, LK Advani, Shyama Prasad Mookherjee... I am a fan of (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi, but I am surprised whether these things reach the PM at all. The way we suffer at the grassroots, if the PM is only busy in sabka saath, sabka vikaas, I am afraid the grassroot workers will be affected... I have no grudge on my fellow candidates. I have been deprived because I was very outspoken about Hindu refugees, NRC issue, CAA," Mr Dev said.

Hojai constituency is dominated by Bengali Hindus and they are a major vote bank of the BJP, owing to the promise to implement the CAA.

During the anti-CAA protests, Mr Dev had been very vocal in support of the law.

"Today, I have got dozens of cases against me by Muslim leaders. I was never guarded when I had to go to court. Today, they have set me alone. I am a very staunch Hindu, I believe in my people. What BJP has taught me in last 30 years is nation first, party next, self last. But it seems that the state leadership has forgotten what they said," Mr Dev said.

Last year, Mr Dev had called scholar Syed Abdul Malik an "intellectual jihadi". Mr Dev has been in the news for making controversial statements, even leading to a police complaint in Silchar in 2018 for allegedly making provocative statements on Assamese versus Bengalis.

BJP sources said Mr Dev was dropped because time and again he has made public statements that were "not in party line".