Former Congress Chief Whip in the Rajya Sabha Bhubaneshwar Kalita joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday, PTI reported. Kalita had quit the Congress earlier this week after the party opposed the bill to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Kalita joined the BJP on Friday evening in the presence of Union minister Piyush Goyal in New Delhi, ANI reported.

Kalita had resigned from the Congress on Monday, alleging that the party’s stand on Article 370 was “against the mood and emotions of the nation”. “Congress is committing suicide,” Kalita had said. Rajya Sabha Chairperson Venkaiah Naidu had accepted Kalita’s resignation.

“The Congress has asked me to issue a whip on the Kashmir issue,” Kalita had said. “But the truth is that the mood of the nation has completely changed and this whip is against the public sentiment across the country... It seems the Congress is committing suicide with this ideology and I don’t want to be part of this.” He accused the Congress’ leadership of trying to destroy the party. “I believe nothing can stop the party from being ruined.”