People in my constituency are poor, so I joined BJP: Phanidhar Talukdar

Phanidhar Talukdar, who joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday said that the poverty of his constituency made him join the ruling government party in Assam.

"People in my constituency are poor. How long will I be in opposition and how it is going to benefit people of my area? So I joined BJP," said Bhabanipur MLA Phanidhar Talukdar while speaking to ANI.

Citing the reason for his leaving All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), he said: "I left AIUDF to work with the Chief Minister. There is no issue with AIUDF but I was hoping that they'll be part of the government."

Earlier in the day, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma welcomed Phanidhar Talukdar into the BJP.

"The faith of leaders across political spectrum in Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to grow. Happy to have met honourable MLA of Bhabanipur Phanidhar Talukdar, who resigned from AIUDF and will join BJP later today. I welcome him to our Pariwaar," Sarma said.

The sitting MLA from Badruddin Ajmal's AIUDF quit the party on Tuesday. He had contested the state assembly polls early this year on an AIUDF ticket.

( With inputs from ANI )