Assam Congress MLAs Kamalakhya De Purakayastha, Sashikanta Das, Basanta Das join ruling BJP ahead of assembly polls

GUWAHATI: Three Congress MLAs — Kamalakhya De Purakayastha, Sashikanta Das and Basanta Das — joined the ruling BJP in Assam on Thursday 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, according to news agency PTI. 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. Purakayastha represents the Karimganj (North) constituency, while Sashikanta Das and Basanta Das are the sitting MLAs from Raha and Mangaldoi (SC), respectively. The two other leaders who joined the BJP are former Congress joint secretary Parsha Bob Kalita and former Trinamool Congress general secretary Kangkan Nath. The three MLAs are believed to be close to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and had openly backed the BJP over the past few years. 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. Mondal and Ahmed are three-time legislators from the Goalpara (West) and Baghbar constituencies, respectively.