Major changes have taken place in the BJP over the last 24 hours, as the saffron party on Friday night expelled nine rebel leaders for a six-year period for contesting independently against officially nominated party candidates.
As a result, state BJP president Dilip Saikia said in a letter on Friday that action had been taken against them "with immediate effect" under provisions of the party’s constitution.
He cited Clause XXV-9 of the party consitution as a reason for the dismissal.
According to this clause, any member contesting the election against "the official candidate of the Party" can be "summarily expelled" by the party, by either the state president or the all-India president.
Jayanta Das, who wanted a Dispur ticket from the party before his expulsion, had even voiced strong criticism against the BJP over being denied the seat.
Other expelled leaders include Uddhav Das (Barpeta), Jitendra Singh Gour (Kaliabor), Amalendu Das (Barkhola), Dhanjit Rabha (Goalpara West), Chakradhar Das (Bongaigaon), Gagan Chandra Haloi (Barpeta), Ankur Das (Kamalpur), and Yashoda Dulal (Shyamal) Rakshit (Lumding).
The BJP also cracked the whip on six other party leaders accused of acting against the party's interests by supporting—and/or conducting backdoor talks with—members of other parties.
This decision was taken in line with Clause XXV (a) and (b) of the the party constitution, which forbid members from "acting or carrying on any propaganda" against party programmes/decisions, and from opposing official party candidates in public body elections, "excluding those where party symbols are not allocated".
The six dismissed leaders have been identified as Gagan Chandra Mandal, Kishore Karmakar, Guru Prasad Upadhyay, Tushanta Kalita, Mani Hazarika, and Pinki Mirdha Chuna—most of whom hail from the Kaliabor area.
These major changes come barely two weeks before the 2026 Assembly elections in the state, which will be held on April 9, and for which votes will be counted on May 4.