BJP unit of Assam, on Thursday, expelled 15 of its leaders there, as they filed their nomination as independent candidates for the upcoming election in the state.

The expelled leaders included former deputy speaker Dilip Kumar Paul. The leaders had filed as independent candidates after being denied tickets. Rajdeep Roy, BJP general secretary stated that Ranjeet Kumar Das, the party’s Assam chief had approved the decision with immediate effect.

The Assam assembly has 126 seats. Among these, BJP is contesting in 92 and has left the remaining seats for its allies, Assam Gana Parishad & the United people’s party liberal.

While BJP is dealing with leaders filing as independent candidates, the Indian National Congress in Assam is in a problem with regards to its MP Sushmita Dev. In a Congress-party meeting, Sushmita Dev walked out unhappy over the seat-sharing & candidate selection by the Congress-led Mahajot alliance. Dev had represented Silchar in Barak valley, till 2019 when BJP general secretary-Rajdeep Roy had defeated her in the Lok Sabha elections.

Barak valley, with a more or less homogenous population from ethnic and cultural points of view had allowed BJP to make inroads into the Assam polity. The Brahmaputra valley has a diverse population and hence had been problematic for the saffron BJP.