Two-time Congress MLA from eastern Assam’s Thowra Assembly constituency, Sushanta Borgohain, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday.
He is the second legislator to switch over to the BJP after Rupjyoti Kurmi, who won the Mariani Assembly seat for the fourth straight time earlier this year.
“His joining will strengthen the party immensely,” Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, welcoming Mr. Borgohain, who has been among the most vocal critics of the BJP.
The BJP is expected to field him for the Thowra constituency in the bye-election scheduled by October. Mr. Kurmi is also expected to be fielded from the Mariani seat.
Mr. Borgohain had submitted his resignation from the Legislative Assembly on July 31, a day after quitting Congress.
Congress is now down to 27 seats in the 126-member Assam Assembly. The House has an effective strength of 122 after the resignation of the Congress duo, and the death of two other MLAs — one each from the Bodoland People’s Front and United People’s Party Liberal.
