GUWAHATI, Feb 17: Suspended Congress MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed joined the Raijor Dal on Tuesday, becoming the second legislator from Assam’s main opposition party to switch to the Akhil Gogoi-led outfit in two days.
Ahmed, the three-time MLA from Baghbor constituency, was welcomed to the Raijor Dal by Gogoi and other senior leaders of the party at a programme in Kalgachia in Barpeta district.
Addressing the gathering, Ahmed said he will be seeking nomination from the Mandia constituency in the assembly elections, the first to be held in the state post-delimitation.
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A former government official, Ahmed was first elected to the assembly in 2011 as an AIUDF member.
After being expelled from the AIUDF, he joined the Congress and went on to win the same Baghbor seat in 2016 and 2021.
He was, however, suspended from the Congress in October 2021 for “repeatedly violating party discipline”.
He was also arrested before the suspension over “provocative” remarks he had allegedly made against an eviction drive in Darrang district of the state in September that year.
Another three-time MLA of the Congress, Abdur Rashid Mandal, had joined the Raijor Dal on Monday.
Mandal switched sides amid former state Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah’s resignation from the party. The Congress high command did not accept Borah’s resignation, following which he sought time to reconsider his decision. (PTI)
