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Three days after quitting as Assam Congress MLA, leader joins BJP
Rupjyoti Kurmi who represented Mariani for four consecutive times since 2006, joined the BJP at a function attended by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma at Gerukamuch in Dhemaji district
Three days after quitting Congress and resigning from his Mariani seat in Assam’s Jorhat, former MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday.
The 43-year-old leader from the influential tea tribe community, who represented Mariani for four consecutive times since 2006, joined the BJP at a function attended by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma at Gerukamuch in Dhemaji district.
“We welcome Shri Rupjyoti Kurmi to BJP family. A prominent leader from tea tribe community and a four-term MLA, he has always been working for uplift of poor and development of the region. BJP, and Assam shall immensely gain from his experience,” tweeted Sarma after the event.
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On Friday, Kurmi had cited the Congress high command’s failure to listen to second-rung leaders like him and promotion of a few select leaders in Assam as reasons for his resignation.
He had also claimed that the Congress joining hands with Lok Sabha MP Badruddin Ajmal’s All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) for the Assam assembly polls had cost the party many seats in upper Assam.
This time, the Congress won 29 seats, three more than 2016, while AIUDF won 16. The 10 party ‘grand-alliance’ led by the Congress won 50 of the 126 seats in the state. On the other hand, BJP (60) and its allies Asom Gana Parishad (9) and United Peoples Party Liberal (6) bagged 75 seats.
“Congress under leaders such as Rahul Gandhi is a sinking ship. In Assam, there’s a lobby of leaders in the party which is interested in promoting only its personal interests. The party overlooked indigenous people of the state and gives importance to immigrant Muslims from Bangladesh,” Kurmi said on Monday.
“Kurmi’s exit from the party is a loss for the Congress in Assam. He was a capable leader and was close to me. It would have been better if he had raised his grievances on the party platform before quitting. We are aware of the complaints similar to Kurmi’s coming from within the party and are trying to address them,” Congress legislature party leader and Leader of Opposition on assembly Debabrata Saikia said after Kurmi’s resignation.
