New Delhi [India], March 9 : Congress on Monday received a boost in Assam ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections, with former Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) national finance secretary Jayanta Khaound joining the party along with some other leaders.
Khaound was formally inducted into the Congress at the party headquarters here in the presence of senior leaders, including Assam in-charge and AICC general secretary Jitendra Singh Alwar, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Congress senior observer for Assam D K Shivakumar, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Gaurav Gogoi and national secretary Manoj Chauhan.
Welcoming Khaound into the party, Gogoi said the entry of a grassroots leader like him reflects "growing public discontent in Assam against the leadership of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma".
He alleged that many leaders in the ruling camp feel suffocated under the present BJP leadership in the state.
He said there is a rising wave of political change in Assam.
"Asom Gana Parishad's Jayanta Khaund contacted us a few days ago expressing his wish to join the Congress party... Today, we are going to induct him and his coworkers into the party," he said.
"Today, a wave is rising in Assam against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for the way he is acting arbitrarily, promoting incompetent people in politics, and the way he is sidelining those who have worked hard in active politics for so many years. He is keeping with him only those who are involved in corruption," he alleged.
Jitendra Singh accused the BJP of trying to weaken regional identities and gradually eliminate regional parties.
Assam will face polls in the first half of this year.
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