Guwahati: Joy Ram Engleng, a former BJP MLA and chief executive member of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) joined the Congress at a formal ceremony in Diphu at Karbi Anglong, Assam.
Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President Bhupen Bora and Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi were present at his joining ceremony.
Along with Engleng, another former executive member of the KAAC, Bhupen Hasnu and seven others also joined the Congress party.
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Engleng had recently resigned from the BJP through a letter to the Assam BJP Chief Bhavesh Kalita.
He had won the 2016 Assembly election on a BJP ticket from the Howraghat Assembly constituency in Karbi Anglong district.
However, he was denied a ticket by the party in the 2021 state Assembly polls.
However, after his shift to the Congress, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma played down Engleng’s importance in the Karbi region, stating that he had been inactive in politics for the last few years.
Sarma added that whenever he visits Karbi Anglong district, he does not see Engleng taking part in any activities and that his switching over to Congress will have no impact in the electoral politics of the region.