Congress legislator H. B. Sarma to join BJP

By NewsGram Staff Writer

Guwahati: Former Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is set to join the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). Speculations are going around of many Congress legislators shifting allegiance, 15 of which reached the airport to recieve Sarma.

Sarma arrived here from New Delhi and headed to the BJP headquarters in Guwahati amid a rally of his supporters from different parts of the state. Some BJP leaders were also on the scene.

He had on August 23 met BJP president Amit Shah in New Delhi and expressed his willingness to join the party. He is likely to do that on Friday.

At least 15 Congress legislators, who were part of the dissident group of Assam Congress led by Sarma, were at the airport to welcome him.

"I am still a Congress legislator. However, I have worked with Sarma for a long time. I am here to wish him best of luck," said Nalbari legislator Jayanta Malla Baruah.

Asked if he too will join the BJP, he said: "It all depends on the circumstance. As of now I am a Congress legislator but I have trust in the leadership of Sarma.

"And I have a desire to work with Sarma for the betterment and progress of Assam."

Another Congress legislator, Binanda Saika, said: "I have not decided to join the BJP yet but we have worked very closely with Sarma, particularly in the last two years."

Sarma, who had the portfolios of health and education in Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi's cabinet during the three consecutive terms of Congress, had led the dissidence in the party in 2011. He resigned from the Gogoi cabinet last year.

With inputs from IANS