Once regarded as the ‘king’ of Barak Valley and a political heavy weight, Gautam Roy, after joining the BJP in Guwahati recently, arrived at Assam’s Silchar on Wednesday evening.
Former Assam minister Roy joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday in presence of state BJP president Ranjeet Kumar Dass and Finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Upon his arrival at Kumbirgram airport, Roy first paid floral tributes to Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee’s statue, located along Shyama Prasad Road in Silchar.
Also read: Assam: Former senior Congress stalwarts formally join BJP
From there, he went to the residence of former Union minister Kabindra Purkayastha, one of the founder leaders of BJP in Northeast, at Banipara to seek his blessings.
Roy, a former Congress stalwart, has served as an MLA for six times and also as a minister of the State.
Having a brief chat with the former Assam minister, Kabindra Purkayastha told Roy, “I liked your statement that you have joined the BJP to serve the people.”
Also read: Gautam Roy is an opportunist politician, says Barak Congress
“You have nothing else to achieve or nothing else to lose. So work hard for this party with integrity,” he added.
Later, he moved to the headquarters of the Cachar District BJP office at Silchar.
Roy received a warm welcome from district BJP president Kaushik Roy and general secretary Kanad Purkayastha.
Silchar Lok Sabha MP Dr Rajdeep Roy and Assam Assembly’s deputy Speaker Aminul Haque Laskar also joined the bandwagon to welcome Gautam Roy to the saffron brigade.
Speaking to the media after his meeting with all the leaders of the BJP, Roy said, “I have formally joined the BJP only now but I joined the party with heart and soul long time back.”
When asked over the ruckus that was witnessed in Hailakandi on Tuesday over his joining the BJP, Roy said, “In a family, differences of opinion exist.”
“But I am sure once I reach Hailakandi, I would be able to pacify the protestors and win their hearts,” Roy said.
Roy also said, “I have not joined the BJP to gain something. So I am not focusing on the forthcoming Assembly election of 2021 in Assam.”
“If the party decides to field me to contest, I shall think over it at that time,” Roy told reporters.
All India Mahila Congress president and former Silchar MP Sushmita Dev recently stated that Roy joining the BJP would be a great loss for the BJP party rather than the Congress.
When sought his reaction over Dev’s statement, Roy said, “These are political statements and I don’t think I need to comment anything on it.”
He added, “BJP is the largest party in the world and many more leaders from other parties are likely to come forward for joining it.”