Guwahati: The Trinamool Congress faced a major organisational setback in Assam’s Cachar district on Sunday, with district president Rajesh Deb, senior leader Mohan Lal Das and 48 other leaders and workers joining the BJP ahead of the Silchar Municipal Corporation election.
Assam BJP president Dilip Saikia welcomed the new entrants at the party’s Cachar district office in the presence of Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev. Dev had herself switched from the Trinamool Congress to the BJP in June, marking a significant political shift in the Barak Valley.
Describing the induction as an expansion of the “BJP family”, Saikia said the new members would help strengthen the party’s organisational network in the region. Referring to Dev’s election to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal, he said her political activities would continue to remain connected with Assam and the development of the Barak Valley.
“Together, every karyakarta will work for the development of the region, the State, and the country,” Saikia said while welcoming the new members.
The latest defections come less than a month before Silchar’s first municipal corporation election, scheduled for October 3. The BJP is seeking to consolidate its organisational and political presence in the city ahead of the civic polls.
For the Trinamool Congress, the exit of its district president along with several senior functionaries and workers represents another challenge to its organisational presence and electoral prospects in Silchar.