Assam Assembly elections | Denied ticket, Assam BJP Minister returns to Congress

Sum Ronghang was one of 11 MLAs to whom the BJP denied a ticket

Snubbed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Assam Minister Sum Ronghang returned to the Congress on Sunday.

Mr. Ronghang, who held the portfolios of Hill Areas Development, besides Mines and Minerals, was one of 11 MLAs to whom the BJP denied a ticket. He joined the Congress in the presence of party general secretary Jitendra Singh and other senior leaders.

The Congress is likely to field the out-of-favour Minister from Diphu, the Assembly constituency in the hill district of Karbi Anglong that he represents.

“I was ignored [by the BJP] despite having performed with utmost dedication,” Mr. Ronghang told journalists, accusing some BJP leaders of conspiring against him.

A former chief executive member of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, Mr Ronghang had joined the BJP in February 2015 after falling out with the leaders of the Congress. He was the president of the Karbi Anglong district Congress committee.

On March 5, another BJP leader and a former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) member, Bitupon Saikia joined the Congress. He switched parties after the BJP named former Congress minister Ajanta Neog as the candidate for the Golaghat Assembly seat.

Minority leader joins Raijor Dal

Azizur Rahman, advisor to the influential All Assam Minority Students’ Union, became the Raijor Dal candidate for the Naoboicha seat soon after joining the new regional party on Sunday.

The announcement of his candidature followed the second list of 50 candidates that ally Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) released. Among these seats is Naoboicha, where the AJP nominated retired teacher Putali Kayastha.

The AJP also nominated Alok Ghosh, a former BJP leader, for the Mariani seat. Many in the BJP believe the quitting of Mr. Ghosh — arguably the tallest Bengali Hindu leader in eastern Assam — due to denial of the seat could cost the party dearly.

On Sunday, the Asom Gana Parishad too declared its first list of candidates. Among the eight names declared are party president and Agriculture Minister Atul Bora (Bokakhat seat) and Water Resources Minister Keshab Mahanta (Kaliabor).