Guwahati, Dec 13: Over 300 former All Assam Students Union (AASU) leaders and members joined the ruling BJP at a programme held at the state BJP headquarters here on Wednesday.
State BJP president Bhabesh Kalita and party leader and minister Pijush Hazarika welcomed them to the party fold.
“We welcome the former AASU members to the BJP. We will work together for the progress of the state and country. Their joining augurs well for the party. BJP-led governments at the Centre and the state have done well and the outcome of the recent elections is a reflection of the good work done by the party,” Hazarika told reporters here.
Sources said the decision was taken by former AASU leaders and workers after the recent convention of the influential students’ union.
Earlier this month, a delegation of former AASU leaders and workers, led by the expelled AASU leader, Dibyajyoti Medhi, had met the Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to affirm their support for the party.
Speaking to mediapersons after joining the party, Medhi said that “People who do not have any formal education do not deserve to be a member of AASU. It is imperative that people who masquerade as leaders of the state’s nationalist movement should not be in the students’ union.”
The former AASU leader had earlier told the media that the “AASU was running a monarchy. A section of the students’ union remained as advisers, while genuine students have not been benefitted from the leadership of the students’ union. I think it’s all about active politics to fulfil the aspirations of the people.”
The move to align with the saffron party by the former members of the influential students’ union apparently indicates an internal discord in AASU and that all might not be well within the organisation of late.
The mass defection to a political party has also become a crucial point for speculation among sections regarding its potential repercussions on both students’ union and the BJP.