Three Congress MLAs — Kamalakhya De Purakayastha, Sashikanta Das and Basanta Das — joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Guwahati on Thursday, along with two other leaders, ahead of the expected April elections to the 126-member Assam assembly. The legislators were formally inducted by state BJP president Dilip Saikia in the presence of Union minister Pabitra Margherita, news agency PTI reported.
Kamalakhya De Purakayastha represents Karimganj (North), while Sashikanta Das and Basanta Das are the sitting MLAs from Raha and Mangaldoi (SC), respectively. The two additional entrants are former Congress joint secretary Parsha Bob Kalita and former Trinamool Congress general secretary Kangkan Nath.
The defections follow former Assam Congress president Bhupen Borah’s switch to the BJP on February 22. Last month, two other MLAs — Abdul Rashid Mondal and Sherman Ali Ahmed, three-time legislators from Goalpara (West) and Baghbar — left the Congress to join the Raijor Dal.
The three new BJP members are believed to be close to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and have publicly backed the ruling party in recent years; Sashikanta Das had announced his support for BJP policies in 2021. Party sources and observers say these moves mark another setback for the Congress as political alignments shift ahead of the state polls.
Original Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/assam-congress-mlas-kamalakhya-de-purakayastha-sashikanta-das-basanta-das-join-ruling-bjp-ahead-of-assembly-polls/articleshow/129070969.cms
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Publish Date: 2026-03-05 11:10:00
