‘At present no intention to leave Cong’: MLA Sashi Kanta Das

On Tuesday, Das said he sat at his usual place, with the Congress legislator in the Assembly.

Asked what he would do if the party expels or suspends him, Das said he will consider his next steps when and if the time comes.

“I don’t understand why speaking to a chief minister about my constituency has been reduced to party politics,” Das said, adding that he was “hurt” by the show-cause notice since he had “sacrificed a lot” for the Congress.

On Monday morning, before the Winter Session of the state Assembly commenced, Sarma tweeted a video of Das meeting him and BJP Assam unit president Bhabesh Kalita at the chief minister’s chamber inside the Assembly complex. “Moved by PM Sri @narendramodi’s vision of development, Hon MLA of Raha of @INCIndia Sri Sashi Kanta Das has pledged his commitment to support Assam Govt politically. This is exemplary and will strengthen governance. I & BJP Assam President @Bhabesh_KalitaR hail this decision” Sarma tweeted, leading to the speculation that Das would join the BJP.

However, Sarma told reporters that the “political aspect” had not been discussed yet. “Das decided to join the government as he wanted to work for the development of Raha constituency. We have not given thought to the political aspect yet. It doesn’t matter which party he belongs to, but since he wants to work with the Assam government, we will help him out,” Sarma said.

Das said that he was “impressed” with Sarma’s policies. “He has kept his promises…whether it is about giving micro-finance loans to women, jobs to the unemployed…now if I want the same for my constituency, what is wrong in that?” said Das, adding that while he knew Sarma since the chief minister’s Congress days, Monday was the first time they met since the elections in May. “Cabinet Minister Pijush Hazarika made the meeting possible,” he said.

Leader Of Opposition in Assam Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, described the development as “bad politics” to “weaken democratic institutions”. “The Opposition is a pillar of democracy… the BJP is trying to weaken our voice by doing this,” he said. The party issued a show-cause-notice to Das on Monday evening, seeking his reply within 24 hours.
Das, who hails from Pub Saimara village in Nagaon district, joined the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress in 1993, after which he held posts in the Indian Youth Congress and later became a member of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee. In 2016, he unsuccessfully contested the Raha seat on a Congress ticket. However, in 2021, he won from the same team becoming a first-time MLA.

If Das leaves the Congress, he will be the third sitting legislator to have quit the grand old party in Assam this year. Earlier, Congress lawmakers Rupjyoti Kurmi and Susanta Borgohain resigned from the party to join the BJP. They later won the by-polls on BJP tickets