Three Assam Congress MLAs join ruling BJP ahead of assembly polls

Guwahati: Three Congress MLAs – Kamalakhya De Purakayastha, Sashikanta Das and Basanta Das – on Thursday joined the ruling BJP in Assam, along with two others, ahead of the assembly polls.

All of them were inducted into the party by state BJP president Dilip Saikia in the presence of Union minister Pabitra Margherita at a function here.

The development comes close on the heels of former Assam Congress president Bhupen Borah joining the saffron party.

Elections to the 126-member Assam assembly are likely to be held in April.

Purakayastha represents Karimganj (North), while Sashikanta and Basanta are sitting MLAs from the Raha and Mangaldoi (SC) constituencies, respectively.

The two others who joined the BJP are former Congress joint secretary Parsha Bob Kalita and former Trinamool Congress general secretary Kangkan Nath.

The three MLAs, reported to be close to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, had openly supported the BJP for the past few years, with Sasikanta Das announcing his support to the ruling party's policies in 2021.

The Congress had suffered a jolt, with Borah joining the BJP on February 22, while two other MLAs Abdul Rashid Mondal and Sherman Ali Ahmed switching over to the Raijor Dal last month.

Both Mondal and Ahmed are three-time legislators from Goalpara (West) and Baghbar, respectively.