Phanidhar Talukdar, who was the only non-Muslim among the 16 MLAs of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in Assam, joined the BJP on Wednesday.
He is the third MLA from the Opposition to join the BJP after Rupjyoti Kurmi (Mariani Assembly seat) and Sushanta Borgohain (Thowra), who quit the Congress.
Mr. Talukdar won the March-April last polls from Bhabanipur for the AIUDF, the minority-based party headed by perfume baron and MP Badruddin Ajmal.
“I have not had any issues with the AIUDF, which I hoped would be part of the government. I represented a constituency where most people are poor and working with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will help me serve them better,” he said after joining the BJP at the party’s Guwahati headquarters.
Prior to joining the BJP, Mr Talukdar resigned from the Assembly. He quit the AIUDF late Wednesday evening.
It’s 15 AIUDF MLAs now
The strength of the AIUDF in the 126-member Assembly is now 15. It was one of 10 that contested the Assembly polls as the ‘Mahajot’ or grand alliance.
Two days ago, the Congress severed its ties with the AIUDF.
Altogether, five seats in the State have fallen vacant, with two MLAs – one each from the Bodoland People’s Front and the United People’s Party Liberal – having died of COVID-19. Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, expected to get a Rajya Sabha berth from the State, is likely to vacate his Majuli seat.
