GUWAHATI: A beleaguered Congress in Assam is facing more trouble ahead of next year’s Assembly elections as some of its MLAs are likely to join the BJP next week when Union Home Minister Amit Shah visits the state.
The names of at least three Congress MLAs are doing the rounds. One is that of Ajanta Neog, who is a former minister. She met Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday, strengthening speculations.
Two others are Roselina Tirkey and Rajdeep Goala. Both are from the Tea Tribe community.
The Congress said the media had been speculating about Neog's defection to the BJP for a long time. "But she has told us that she is not going anywhere," Congress spokesperson Bobeeta Sarma told The New Indian Express.
At the same time, she also said, "The BJP should be ashamed as a party that they do not consider their own homegrown party members as leaders and they try to steal leaders from Congress and others."
BJP stalwarts Sonowal and his virtual deputy Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is a minister, had backgrounds in the Asom Gana Parishad and the Congress respectively.
The BJP, which heads Assam's three-party ruling coalition, made massive inroads into the state's tea belt in recent years. The tea garden workers had helped Congress win many elections until the emergence of the BJP as a powerhouse.
The BJP claimed it was getting feelers from some other Congress leaders too. They are said to be unhappy with the Congress's move to stitch a pre-poll alliance with the All India United Democratic Front. They believe that an alliance with the minority-based party may harm the Congress in the polls, especially in Upper Assam where a strong sense of Assamese nationalism prevails.
The Congress in Assam is also ridden by factionalism. The Congress spokesperson, however, made light of it. "We have internal democracy and giving divergent views does not necessarily mean opposition. Even within a family, you have different views," she added.
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