Congress MLA Bhaskar Jyoti Baruah from Titabar Shares Dais with Sarbananda Sonowal, Likely to Join BJP

GUWAHATI: In another major setback for the Congress, MLA from Titabar assembly constituency Bhaskar Jyoti Baruah is likely to quit the party and join the BJP.

According to the latest reports, Baruah has already had a meeting with chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma regarding the matter and is likely to associate with the saffron brigade soon. Also, Baruah had joined the BJP's Jan Ashirbad Yatra meeting in Jorhat on Monday. He was seen with Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal and other BJP leaders.

Titabar was the constituency of Congress stalwart and former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi since 2001 till this death. After Gogoi's demise, Congress had nominated Baruah in the seat in this year's assembly elections in Assam and he emerged victorious by more than 13,000 trouncing BJP candidate Hemanta Kalita.

If Baruah deserts the Congress and joins the saffron brigade, it will be the second jolt to the grand old party in this month. Former All India Mahila Congress president and former MP of Barak Valley's Silchar Lok Sabha constituency Sushmita Dev had submitted her resignation letter on August 15 and joined West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamul Congress on August 16 in Kolkata in the presence of party leaders Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O'Brien.

At least two other Congress legislators - Rupjyoti Kurmi and Sushanta Borgohain have resigned from the party since the assembly elections in Assam this year.

According to a report by-poll rights group Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), at least 170 MLAs of Congress left the party (across the country) and joined other political parties during elections held between 2016-2020.

In this year's assembly election in Assam, the BJP returned to power by winning 60 of the total 126 seats on its own. Its allies AGP and UPPL got 9 and 6 seats respectively. The Congress got 26 and AIUDF got 16 seats.

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