BJP spokesperson Mehdi Alam Bora resigns to protest against Citizenship Bill

Soon after the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed in Lok Sabha, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Mehdi Alam Bora resigned from all posts of the party. Bora took this step to protest against the development. He has submitted the resignation letter to the party's Assam president Ranjeet Kumar Dass. This is the first important person of the party resigning from BJP to protest the Bill.  

"I oppose the Citizenship Amendment Bill. I truly feel that it will harm the Assamese society," Bora said in his resignation letter.  The Bill will bring a crisis on Assamese language-culture and completely nullify the Assam Accord, he added.     

"This will also hurt the secular fabric of the Assamese society. I have always been opposing this Bill. On account of the Bill being passed in Lok Sabha, I could not agree with BJP party and so resigning from all posts, including primary membership," Bora said. 

Earlier, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) broke ties with the BJP after failed attempts of convincing the BJP to scrap the Bill. 

Commenting on the development state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said has committed a ''historic blunder'' by not extending support to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. 

Former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta had committed the first blunder by signing the Assam Accord and the party made the second ''historic blunder'' by not extending support to the Bill, Sarma said.    

The Bill was passed by Lok Sabha on Tuesday. It seeks to amend Citizenship Act 1955 to grant Indian nationality to people from minority communities - Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians - from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan after six years of residence in India instead of 12 even if they don't possess any proper document.