BJP suspends Dilip Paul, who already resigned; 14 others in the list

In recent years, mutiny inside political parties has become a trend during Indian elections. In this year’s Assam assembly election, the BJP had to face the worst of it, when a slew of party candidates, after getting snubbed from tickets, went against their party’s ‘protocol’ and decided to contest in the Vidhan Sabha election independently.

Incumbent Silchar MLA Dilip Kumar Paul’s decision to contest independently perhaps had the biggest impact on the ruling BJP party, who tried in vain to convince him to withdraw. Now, after failing to convince their rebellious candidates, the Bharatiya Janata Party, Assam Pradesh in an official notice today suspended Dilip Kumar Paul along with 14 other BJP members who went against their party’s protocol to contest independently.

In a letter signed by Rajdeep Roy, the State General Secretary of the BJP Assam Pradesh, it is mentioned that party President Ranjeet Dass has suspended Silchar MLA Dilip Kumar Paul along with 14 others for going against the party’s decision and contesting independently in the upcoming elections.

Earlier, state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tried to dissuade Paul from contesting in the upcoming election, but all in vain. BJP’s Dilip Paul won the Silchar LAC twice, once in 2014 during the by-poll election and then in the 2016 Vidhan Sabha election. The party still decided to hand over the ticket to newcomer Dipayan Chakraborty, which created huge controversy, especially among the BJP supporters of this constituency.

Even until the last date of withdrawing nominations, which was March 17, speculations among the BJP circle suggested that Paul would eventually withdraw. But the Silchar MLA was quick to react to this speculation doing rounds and clarified in a press conference that he would not withdraw his nomination, but rather looks forward to winning.

His allegations of running crime syndicates against some of the important members of the party also helped in widening the gap of dissatisfaction between him and his party.

Dilip Kumar Paul is yet to come out with a statement regarding his suspension from the party. However, it is worth mentioning here that Paul has already tendered his resignation as a primary member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is only after he resigned, Paul announced that he will contest as an independent candidate.