Three Congress MLAs Join BJP Ahead Of Assembly Polls In Assam
The development comes soon after former Assam Congress president Bhupen Borah joined the saffron party
Guwahati: Three Congress MLAs — Kamalakhya Dey Purakayastha, Sashikanta Das and Basanta Das — who were close to Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday formally joined the ruling BJP in Assam along with two other leaders, ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.
They were inducted into the party by state BJP president Dilip Saikia in the presence of union minister Pabitra Margherita at a function held here at BJP headquarters. Mr Purakayastha represents the Karimganj (North) constituency, while Mr Sashikanta Das and Mr Basanta Das are the sitting MLAs from Raha and Mangaldoi (SC), respectively.
The three MLAs who were known for their proximity to the chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had openly backed the BJP over the past few years. Mr Sashikanta Das had announced his support for the ruling party’s policies in 2021.
The Congress had earlier suffered a setback when Bhupen Borah joined the BJP on February 22. Last month, two other MLAs — Abdul Rashid Mondal and Sherman Ali Ahmed — switched to the Raijor Dal.
Mr Mondal and Mr Ahmed are three-time legislators from the Goalpara (West) and Baghbar constituencies, respectively.
The two other leaders who also joined the BJP are former Congress joint secretary Parsha Bob Kalita and former Trinamool Congress general secretary Kangkan Nath.
The development comes soon after former Assam Congress president Bhupen Borah joined the saffron party.
Elections to the 126-member Assam assembly are expected to be held in April.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in his reaction to three Congress MLAs joining the BJP said that it reflects the growing popularity of the BJP in the state. He said that many more Congress leaders would be joining the BJP in the run up to the assembly polls in the state.