Assam BJP leader quits, blames Modi-Shah, corruption

Guwahati, Feb 18 (IANS) A senior leader of the BJP's Assam unit and national executive member has quit the party, blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah and several other reasons for his "disillusionment".

"My departure from the BJP is not a knee-jerk reaction to any specific event, but a gradual disillusionment, a loss of faith with the general drift of the party at both the national and state levels," said Bora in a letter addressed to media.

"It was very difficult for me to compose a resignation letter and cite specific causes. What I have tried to do instead is consolidate my thoughts around 5 specific themes: 1) Assam features fairly low on the priority of the national leadership. 2) Subversion of the democratic tradition by the Modi-Shah duo. 3) Political corruption in Assam BJP. 4) BJP's dalliances with the most corrupt Himanta Biswa Sarma. 5) State president Siddhartha Bhattacharya's actions and utterances," Bora said in his letter which was available on his Facebook page.

Bora, who had unsuccessfully contested the 2011 state assembly polls from Jalukbari constituency, had earlier been vocal against the state BJP leadership over the later's alleged attempt bring in Congress leader and former health and education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to the BJP.

A product of IIM, Ahmedabad, Bora joined politics by joining BJP's National Media Cell, the party's in-house communication and PR unit.

In 2007, he was elevated and appointed the national convenor of BJP's Information Technology (IT) Cell. The IT Cell was BJP's newest organisational unit,and Bora was its first head.

In November 2008, Prodyut was selected to run the communications office of BJP's prime ministerial candidate for the 2009 general elections L.K. Advani.

"I am still a great advocate of change from within. For many years, I hoped against hope (and experience) that change would take place in Assam BJP. And that it would emerge as the only real alternative to the misrule of the Congress. Today, I am not so sure anymore," Bora mentioned in his letter.

"I want to keep alive my idealism in the goodness of people, and hope of better days to come. Politics has an immense capacity to corrode that human spirit and turn one into a cynic. I have decided to depart from the BJP before my spirit gets damaged a bit too much," he added.