Lok Sabha elections: Several leaders of Congress, BPF join BJP in Assam

In a boost to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, several leaders of the Congress and Bodoland People's Front (BPF) joined the BJP on Sunday during a programme held at the Assam State BJP headquarters in Guwahati in the presence of state BJP president Bhabesh Kalita.

"Today marked a significant moment as Ananta Kumar Malo, former MLA, Kishore Bhattacharya, former APCC member, and Bhaskar Dahal, former secretary & Spokesperson of APCC, officially joined the BJP at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Bhawan, Guwahati," Kalita said in a post on 'X'.

"I warmly welcome them and look forward to their valuable contributions towards the development and progress of our nation. My heartfelt congratulations to Ananta Kumar Malo, Kishore Bhattacharya, and Bhaskar Dahal as they start their new journey with BJP," he added.

"Today several people joined the party...The opposition is going to be a big zero in Assam. That is their condition here," Kalita said speaking to ANI on Sunday.
 

There are a total of 14 parliamentary constituencies in Assam. Elections for the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam will take place in three phases on April 19, April 26 and May 7.

The election for 543 Lok Sabha seats in the country will be held in seven phases starting April 19. Nearly 97 crore voters are eligible to cast votes in the 2024 general election. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.

In the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 7 of the 14 seats in Assam. Both the Congress and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) claimed three seats each.

During the 2019 elections, the BJP increased its seat count to 9, while the Congress maintained its three seats, and the AIUDF won a single seat. The BJP also bagged an impressive vote share of 36.4 per cent while the Congress received 35.8 per cent of the votes.