Assam: Rupjyoti Kurmi set to join BJP

Four-time legislator and a prominent tea tribe leader Rupjyoti Kurmi resigned as a Congress lawmaker on Friday. Reports say he will join the BJP on Monday in Lakhimpur.

Guwahati: In yet another body blow to the Congress in Assam, four-time party legislator and a prominent tea tribe leader, Rupjyoti Kurmi on Friday resigned as a member of the Assam legislative assembly and from the primary membership of the Congress party.

With Kurmi set to join the BJP, the Congress has lost the constituency of Mariani. He will join the BJP on Monday at a function in Lakhimpur, reports said. Sources added that he will contest the by-election to be held in Mariani shortly.

Kurmi's resignation has once again brought to the fore the poor leadership and the infighting in Congress. The 'Grand Old Party' had contested 95 assembly seats during the Legislative Assembly elections held earlier this year and could win only 29 seats.

Kurmi had also blamed the AICC leadership for their failure to score in the recent elections held in the five states including Assam and said that it is due to the lack of foresightedness that the Congress had lost the elections in most of the states. Talking about Assam, he said that the APCC's decision to ally with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) is one of the reasons for voters rejecting Congress.

After the Congress' debacle in the recent polls, Kurmi had offered his candidature for the position of party president in Assam, which was rejected by the AICC top leadership. Kurmi had also been vocal against some of the Congress leaders in Assam, who according to him, were more engrossed in infighting rather than improving the party's performance.

Assam's Leader of Opposition, Debabrata Saikia said that Kurmi was a dedicated worker of the party and that his exit will affect the Congress in the state. Kurmi also blamed party President Ripun Bora and former minister Rockybul Hussain for the current situation in the party. He said that thousands of youngsters in the Mariani constituency will join the BJP along with him on Monday.