Tezpur: Senior BJP leader Ram Prasad Sarmah, who represented the Tezpur parliamentary constituency in Assam, has resigned from the party. The decision came after his name was not included in the candidate panelist.

Sarmah took to Twitter to announce that he has quit the BJP. “I have left BJP today. But I really feel pain in my heart for those old BJP workers of Assam who were most neglected in the Party by the new intruders. I strongly raised my voice on their behalf. Now there will be none to raise voice for them. It's the old guards of the party who are toiling for decades and brought BJP to power without any support. But now they are most neglected and ill-treated. Love you, my dear friends. I will still be with you. Thank you for your help, support and love for me.”

Sarmah, who served the RSS/VHP for 15 years also wrote another Facebook post describing his feeling after he didn’t find his name in the candidate panelist.

“I felt greatly insulted when my name, a sitting MP and the President of Assam Gorkha Sammelan, did not find a place in panel sent up by the state BJP committee. Friends and the people of Assam, I will continue to serve you till the end of my life. I will always lovingly nurture your support and love for me that you showed on me for so long. I love you from the core of my heart,” Sarmah added.

He also wrote, “A song from the 1957 film Bhabi is befitting to my resignation from the BJP. The absence of my name is a great insult, discrimination and injustice to more than 20 lakh people, 13 lakh voters of my constituency, 50 Gorkhas of North East, and about 1.5 Gorkhas of our country besides the Hindi speaking people of northeast. How the name of a sitting MP and the president of Assam Gorkha Sammelan, could be so negligently dropped off the panel? It is a hard slap on my face and the faces of the people of my constituency and the members of my community. Thank you Mr. Sarbanand Sonowal, Mr. Ram Madhab, Mr.  Himanta Biswa Sarma for your support, love and care showed to the people of my constituency, my community and me. Love you all.”

In 2014, Sarmah was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha from the Tezpur seat.

Earlier also, Sarmah expressed his anguish and threatened to quit the BJP.