Guwahati, Sept. 7 -- The Trinamool Congress faced a major organisational setback in Assam's Cachar district on Sunday, with district president Rajesh Deb, senior leader Mohan Lal Das and 48 other leaders and workers joining the BJP ahead of the Silchar Municipal Corporation election.

Assam BJP president Dilip Saikia welcomed the new entrants at the party's Cachar district office in the presence of Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev. Dev had herself switched from the Trinamool Congress to the BJP in June, marking a significant political shift in the Barak Valley.

Describing the induction as an expansion of the "BJP family", Saikia said the new members would help strengthen the party's organisational network in the region. Referring to Dev's ele...