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Rana Goswami, who resigned as Assam Cong working president, joins BJP
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra had come as a big boost for the BJP in Assam
GUWAHATI: Rana Goswami, who resigned as the working president of the Assam Congress, joined the state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday, just a day after resigning from the Congress,
Goswami, a two-time former MLA from Jorhat, joined the BJP at the state BJP head office in Guwahati in presence of chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and party’s Assam president Bhabesh Kalita.
“It a great day for BJP in Assam as two working presidents of Congress have expressed confidence in our party. While Goswami has officially joined the party, Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha has extended full support to us both inside the assembly and outside,” Sarma said.
Sarma also took a swipe at senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, describing the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra which passed through Assam last month, as a big boost for the BJP since several Congress leaders have joined the BJP after that event.
“Gandhi’s boycotting of the consecration ceremony of Ram Temple at Ayodhya on January 22, which coincided with his Assam visit, led to the downhill journey of Congress in Assam. In the next two years, only 4-6 MLAs will remain in the Congress,” said Sarma.
On February 14, North Karimganj legislator Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha - also a working president of the Assam Congress - stepped down from the party post and announced his support for the BJP. Purkasyastha had then said that he was staying in the Congress only because he was elected on a Congress ticket but it was the BJP which had his support. The same day, another Congress MLA, Basanta Kumar Das, also extended support to the ruling government.
There was speculation on Thursday that Purkayastha would also join the BJP, but he clarified that there were some “technical issues” and he would shift only after they are sorted.
Goswami told reporters that joining the BJP was a “political move”. “I joined it only after meeting senior BJP leaders and was assured of getting a scope to work in the party. This step has been taken keeping the welfare of our people and the state in mind,” Goswami told journalists after joining BJP.
Congress won 29 seats of Assam’s 126 assembly seats in 2021. But the party’s strength started declining within months after two legislators resigned from the party, joined the BJP, and were re-elected on a BJP ticket from the same seats.
