Former BJP Union minister Rajen Gohain joins AJP

Guwahati, Nov 5 (PTI) Former union minister and four-time BJP MP Rajen Gohain on Wednesday joined regional political outfit Assam Jaitya Parishad (AJP).

Gohain, who had resigned from the BJP on October 9, switched over to the regional party at a programme here in the presence of AJP president Lurinjyoti Gohain and general secretary Jagadish Bhuyan, among others.

He had represented the Nagaon parliamentary constituency for four terms from 1999 to 2019 and had served as the Union Minister of State for Railways from 2016 to 2019.

Gohain, 74, had said that he resigned from the BJP as the party had "failed to fulfil the promises made to the people of Assam and betrayed the indigenous communities by allowing outsiders to settle in the state".

He also charged the BJP's state leadership with "encouraging communal politics and dividing the centuries-old Assamese society".

The assembly elections in the state are due next year. PTI SSG SSG BDC