Congress' lone winner in Bodoland Territorial Council polls switches to BJP

KOKRAJHAR: In an interesting development, the only Congress leader to have secured a win in the hotly contested polls in the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) has jumped ship and joined the saffron party.

Sajal Sinha, who was elected from Srirampur on a Congress ticket, announced on Monday that he would join the BJP and will be a part of the BJP-UPPL-GSP coalition.

Justifying his move, Sinha said that it is for the "development of his constituency", which borders West Bengal. 

Sinha joined the saffron brigade in the presence of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor and Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Sarma stated that Sinha had expressed his wish to be part of the BJP after the results of the just concluded polls were announced on Saturday.

ALSO READ: Stage set for Promod Boro to be sworn in as new BTC CEM

Sarma has also claimed that some MCLAs from the Bodoland Peoples' Front (BPF) want to cross over to the ruling coalition, but chose not to divulge their names.

The coalition strength will go up to 23 in the 40- member council with the crossing of the fence by the Congress member.

Meanwhile, former Rajya Sabha MP Biswajit Daimary has also claimed that his BJP party has the support of many more elected representatives, pegging the strength of the new coalition at more than 23.

UPPL has won 12 seats with its chief Promod Bodo winning from two seats. Boro has been officially sworn in as the Chief Executive Member of the Council.

Two members each of the BJP and UPPL and one of the Gana Suraksha Party (GSP) have been sworn in.

Earlier, Governor Jagadish Mukhi accepted the claim of the three-party coalition to form the Council after the newly elected members from the three parties had submitted their claim to Raj Bhavan on Sunday.

All the 14 assembly seats from the four districts jin the Bodoland Territorial Council are currently held by the BPF, which had joined hands with the BJP before the 2016 assembly polls to form the government.

The elections to the Council, earlier scheduled to be held on April 4 was deferred due to the pandemic, were held in two phases on December seven and 10. Thereafter, Mukhi assumed charge of the Council.

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