Himanta does not have any ideology: Tarun Gogoi

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Tuesday said that former state minister and Congress leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has decided to join the BJP, does not have any ideology.

"Himanta does not have any ideology. That is why he has joined a communal party," Gogoi, who is here to attend a meeting of the Niti Aayog, told the media.

Sarma on Sunday met BJP president Amit Shah at the latter's residence and announced his decision to join the party.

"I expressed my willingness to work under the strong leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and (BJP) national president Amit Shah and they have accepted it," the former health and education minister of Assam told the media outside Shah's residence after the meeting.

He later said that he took the decision after being humiliated in the Congress for the past 13 months.

Asked about this, Gogoi on Tuesday said, "If he felt humiliated, why was he in the party for so long?"

The chief minister also said that Sarma was a selfish person.

"How can Modi, who was at one time his (Sarma's) enemy, become close now?"

Asked if the Congress faced the prospect of defeat in next year's assembly elections in Sarma's absence, he said: "We had lost even when Himanta was there in the party. In last year's Lok Sabha elections, the Congress won only three seats (in the state}."

Regarding reports that Sarma felt threatened when Gogoi launched his son Gaurav Gogoi into politics, the chief minister asked: "Why is he scared of Gaurav Gogoi?"

He also said that Sarma's exit would not affect the Congress.