Assam: Congress leaders Santiuse Kujur, Gautam Roy join BJP

Former Congress leaders Santiuse Kujur and Gautam Roy joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) here on Sunday in the presence of Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Both the leaders had resigned from the party on August 10.

A veteran leader from the Barak Valley region, Roy served in the cabinet of former three-time Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. He was expelled from the party recently for "anti-party" activities.

On the other hand, Kujur, in a letter to the party, said his resignation was a 'personal decision'.

The two resignations come on the heels of veteran leader and Rajya Sabha chief whip Bhubaneswar Kalita resigning from the party and joining the BJP. In his resignation letter, Kalita had slammed the Congress for opposing the Central government's decision to scrap Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

Kujur, who hails from Udalguri district, is reportedly eyeing the Rangapara Assembly seat. His tenure in Rajya Sabha had ended along with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's on June 14.

Along with Roy and Kujur, Hiranya Kumar Bhuyan, former president of Assam Pradesh Youth Congress, also switched over to the BJP today.

Talking to reporters here, Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "I think people are fed up within the Congress. We are getting requests after requests everyday that people want to join BJP. Sooner or later, Congress will be a party only with the Gandhis without any workers and office bearers.