In a significant development for the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ahead of the Assam Legislative Assembly elections, three sitting Congress MLAs—Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha, Sashikanta Das, and Basanta Das—were officially inducted into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at a ceremony in Guwahati. The induction occurred in the presence of state BJP president Dilip Saikia and senior party leaders. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma indicated that the induction was strategically timed with regard to the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections and other political considerations. Purkayastha expressed his commitment to the BJP, stating he would work “as a soldier” for the party’s objectives. This follows a recent trend of defection from the Congress, exemplified by the joining of former Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Bhupen Kumar Borah to the BJP after decades of service in the opposition. These defections are expected to strengthen BJP’s position in the Assam Assembly while potentially exacerbating the crisis within the Congress, which may face further exits as the electoral contests approach.
