Guwahati, Dec 23 (IANS): Assam Congress President Bhupen Borah on Sunday claimed that at least 18 senior leaders of the BJP are willing to switch sides to join the opposition party.
Borah said: "Many leaders from the BJP have expressed their willingness to join the Congress party. At least 18 senior leaders of the BJP are in touch with us. However, they have demanded an assurance of getting tickets in the next Assembly elections."
The Congress leader said that as there are long queues for the tickets in the opposition party, the BJP leaders who are willing to switch sides cannot be given any assurance for tickets.
“We have many dynamic faces in our party and they can not be ignored,” he added.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma already ordered a probe into Congress party worker’s death.
Mridul Islam, 45, died earlier this week after participating in a Congress protest march to Raj Bhawan in Guwahati.
The Congress has alleged that the police used excessive tear gas to disrupt the protest and this was the reason behind Islam’s untimely death.
The state unit of the Congress party has lodged a complaint against the police, claiming that the police used excessive tear gas shells which led to the passing away of Mridul Islam.
Islam was a member of the State Congress Legal Cell and a lawyer by profession, according to the party.
The deployment of teargas by the state police, according to Assam Congress general secretary Bipul Gogoi, was not only excessive but also indiscriminate, affecting everyone in the vicinity, including elderly people, children, and individuals with respiratory conditions and they did so without any provocation.
According to the state Congress, Mridul Islam was among the numerous demonstrators who sustained injuries due to police actions, who were already having difficulties as a result of the tear gas.
"It is clear that the action of the Assam Police directly led to his tragic death. This FIR is being filed to request that immediate and strict action be taken against the responsible police personnel for their excessive and unlawful use of force, which directly caused the death of an innocent citizen,” Gogoi said in his complaint.
Diganta Barah, Guwahati Commissioner of Police, refuted the claims by Congress party, stating that the cause of Islam's death was yet unknown.