Guwahati, Dec 20: In a development which augurs well for the Assam Congress ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha elections, two senior leaders – one from the BJP and another from All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) – formally joined the party here on Wednesday.
Party sources said senior BJP leader and three-time candidate of the saffron party from Lakhimpur parliamentary constituency, Uday Shankar Hazarika, joined the Congress at Rajiv Bhawan here on Wednesday morning in the presence of All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and Assam in-charge Jitendra Singh; Assam PCC president Bhupen Kumar Borah and other party leaders.
In the evening, founder working president of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) Hafiz Rashid Choudhury also jumped ship and joined the Congress at the party headquarters. He was welcomed to the party by the APCC president in the presence of the AICC general secretary and other party leaders.
A senior advocate of Gauhati High Court and also the founding president of the United Minorities Front (UMF), Choudhury, in his speech after joining Congress, criticised the policies of the ruling BJP besides accusing AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal of engaging in communal politics.
Meanwhile, AICC general secretary and Assam in-charge Jitendra Singh held separate meetings with the party’s district secretaries of Upper and lower Assam, as well as booth-level leaders.
Besides, Singh also held a meeting with the Congress legislators of the state and reviewed the preparations of the party leaders and members for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Guidelines and directives were issued in this regard by the AICC leader.
On the other hand, till Wednesday evening, 77 party members have sought party tickets for the parliamentary elections in the state.
The Assam PCC had extended the last date for submission of applications till December 22, 2023.
