HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, April 29: North Karimganj MLA Kamalkahya Dey Purkayastha on Monday asserted that after the Lok Sabha polls, majority of Congress legislators will leave the party and will join other parties including BJP, AGP and AIUDF.
Launching a scathing attack on state Congress leaders, Purkayastha told reporters, “If the current leadership continues to lead the Congress party in Assam, the party will lose its existence in the state.”
He also claimed that the majority of the Congress MLAs have links with Himanta Biswa Sarma and they have been supporting the chief minister.
“The winning margin of the BJP would cross 3 lakh votes in some Lok Sabha seats. This could be possible because of the support of the Congress legislators. Once the Lok Sabha polls are over, many of them will leave Congress and will join other parties,” Purkayastha claimed.
According to him, some of the Congress MLAs may join the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) instead of the BJP because of the population pattern in their constituencies.
“Some may even join the AIUDF also but they will definitely leave the Congress party,” Purkayastha said.
The North Karimganj legislator also asserted that the BJP will win the Karimganj Lok Sabha seat this time.
”I have taken feedback from the ground and the BJP candidate Kripanath Mallah is winning this seat,” he added.
Reacting to the chief minister’s hint of a close contest in Karimganj and Nagaon, Purkayastha said, “The chief minister cannot say anything without being 100 percent sure about winning or losing in a seat. But I am sure that BJP will get a minimum of 11 seats in Assam in the Lok Sabha polls. The figure will definitely go up.”
Purkayastha, who was once very vocal against the BJP, announced his support for the state government in the last budget session of the Assam assembly. He has also announced that due to some technical difficulties, he could not officially join the BJP but he would do it anytime soon.
The Karimganj Lok Sabha seat, which is a minority dominated constituency, is believed to have faced a hard contest between the BJP and the Congress.
The saffron party fielded the incumbent MP Kripanath Mallah in these seats and Congress gave the ticket to senior advocate of Gauhati High Court, Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury.
Meanwhile, Sahabul Islam Choudhury fought the election on AIUDF ticket.
