Assam: 3 prominent personalities, including ex-Cong leader, join TMC

Kolkata: Three prominent figures from Assam — Dulu Ahmed, Sisir Dev Kalita and Sanjib Mahanta — joined Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the city on Monday.

They officially joined the ruling party of Bengal during a Press conference at Trinamool Bhawan in the presence of the party’s Rajya Sabha MP Susmita Dev and Moloy Ghatak who is in-charge of Assam.

While stressing her party’s expansion plan in Assam, Dev said: “We welcome them to our party and I hope that the party will be much stronger in Assam in days ahead.

There are ups and downs in politics. For the visionary leadership of party supremo Mamata Banerjee and national secretary Abhishek Banerjee, we got a constitutional post in Meghalaya as Opposition leader. In Assam, we have

Panchayat elections, BTAD sixth schedule area elections and by-elections in six Assembly seats.” Dev also said that her party decided to refrain from contesting these elections.

“Though we had candidates willing to contest the bypolls, we believed it would be more suitable to wait until a state president is declared for Assam. A panel list of three persons was prepared and sent to the National General Secretary and party Chairperson. The state president’s name will be declared after the Kali Puja,” Dev explained.

Moloy Ghatak, who now heads Trinamool’s Assam unit, said: “Many top political leaders are aiming to join the party in Assam. TMC is the only party which can show the path in the future in Assam. We have Mamata Banerjee in our party and for which the public appreciation and demand for the party gets a motion in every state where it aims to form its base.”

In reply to media questions, Ghatak pointed out that the TMC will remain in power in Bengal for at least 50 years.

Dulu Ahmed previously held the position of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee Secretary from 2014 to 2017 and later served as an AICC member. Ahmed left Congress in 2020 to join the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) as working president.

Sisir Dev Kalita on the other hand has 17 years of experience in public relations and political strategy in Assam. Sanjib Mahanta, who played a crucial role in founding the AJP, was appointed Chief Convenor of the party in 2020 and served as the Kamrup district president for AJP since 2021.