Three Congress MLAs Formally Join BJP at Guwahati Ceremony

Three sitting Congress MLAs formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in Guwahati on Thursday, in a development that deals a fresh blow to the opposition party ahead of the Assam Assembly elections.

The MLAs — Shashi Kanta Das, Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha, and Basanta Das — were inducted into the BJP at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Bhawan, a day after Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma had publicly announced their impending switch.

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The induction ceremony was conducted in the presence of Assam BJP State President Dilip Saikia, and was attended by several senior party figures including Cabinet Minister Pijush Hazarika and Union Minister of State Pabitra Margherita, along with other BJP legislators and leaders.

Apart from the three MLAs, two other political leaders also joined the BJP during the programme.

The defections follow the earlier switch of two other Congress MLAs — Abdur Rashid Mandal and Sherman Ali — who had already joined the Raijor Dal, compounding the Congress party's losses in the run-up to the state polls.