Guwahati: A series of defections by senior leaders continue to plague the Congress party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. After Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Telangana, where a few senior Congress leaders jumped ship and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party recently, the Assam Congress is now facing a similar situation. As per reports, former minister of Assam Gautam Roy and ex-Congress MP Kirip Chaliha are expected to join the BJP today. Local reports suggested that former Congress legislator from Silchar, Roy, is likely to get a ticket from the BJP for the Silchar parliamentary seat for the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Currently, the Silchar constituency is represented by Sushmita Dev of the Congress party. Last year in August, Roy had also met Ram Madhav, who is BJP's Assam in-charge, reports suggested.
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Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Kirip Chaliha, who has been vocally critical of former CM Tarun Gogoi, who is party colleague, is also likely to join the saffron party today, Times Now reported. The departure of the two senior leaders in Assam is expected to impact the Congress as the two leaders wield considerable influence among their voters, sources said. The two are likely to join the BJP at an event in Guwahati. Elections in Assam will take place in three phases, beginning from April 11 and ending on April 23. Counting of votes will be held on May 23, the Election Commission announced on Sunday.
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It is to be noted that on Tuesday, Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vike Patil’s son, Sujay Vikhe Patil, joined the BJP in the presence of CM Devendra Fadnavis. The development comes after the NCP, which is in alliance with the Congress in the state, refused the Ahmednagar seat for Sujay. Another Maharashtra leader, Congress MLA Kalidas Kolambkar from Mumbai is also believed to be planning to leave the Congress and join the BJP. The seven-time Congress MLA reportedly put pictures of CM Fadnavis at his Dadar office.