Former three-time Congress MLA from Tinsukia Rajendra Prasad Singh on Thursday joined the BJP, expressing displeasure against a few Congress leaders.
BJP sources said several senior Congress leaders, including former PCC president and Rajya Sabha member Bhubaneswar Kalita, former Assam government minister Bharat Narah and former Rajya Sabha member Santiuse Kujur are in contact with the BJP leadership who are likely to join the party soon.
“I was not happy with a few leaders of the Assam PCC,” Singh told the media after a joining ceremony at the BJP’s state head office here. He, however, did not name anyone.
Singh had represented Tinsukia constituency for three consecutive terms on a Congress ticket from 2001-2016.
In 2016, he lost to BJP’s Sanjoy Kishan with a margin of around 35,000 votes.
Singh also expressed displeasure at not being made a minister despite winning for three terms.
“If I were made a minister, I would have got an opportunity to work a lot for the people. However, I have not joined the BJP with any expectation. I will shoulder any responsibility the BJP entrusts me with,” he said.
He praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his work, especially revoking the special status of Jammu & Kashmir by scrapping Article 370.
Regarding the joining of Kalita, Narah and Kujur, a general secretary of the Assam BJP said there has been preliminary talk between the party and the trio.
Kalita on Tuesday resigned from the Congress, alleging that no party leader had contacted him and tried to know why he had resigned from the Rajya Sabha the previous day.
“I waited the whole day. But no one contacted me,” said Kalita.
On Monday, Kalita, the chief whip of the party in the Rajya Sabha, resigned from the House stating his opposition against the party’s stand on abrogation of Article 370.
His resignation came as a huge embarrassment for the Congress, which had opposed the NDA government’s move to abrogate Article 370.
Former chief minister and veteran Congress leader Tarun Gogoi also recently said Kalita would join the BJP.
