Two sets of artistes who were at the forefront of the movement against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in Assam have joined the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress ahead of the 2021 Assembly polls.

On Tuesday, 30 popular Assamese entertainment industry professionals joined the BJP at the party’s headquarters in Guwahati. Close by, 34 fellow musicians, singers, actors and others joined the Congress at a hall in memory of a party youth leader killed three decades ago.

Among those who joined the BJP were flautist Deepak Sarma, singer Simanta Shekhar, actor Pranjana Dutta and fashion designer Rittika Hazarika.

“Our mission in 2016 was 84 [of the total of 126] Assembly seats. Our mission for 2021 is at least 100 seats. We welcome the artistes to BJP, which is a mission, not a party,” said State BJP president Ranjeet Kumar Dass.

Singer Shekhar, who had sung the BJP’s 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign song “Akou Ebaar Modi Sarkar” (Modi government once again), had been vocal against the CAA, which offers citizenship to non-Muslims from three neighbouring countries.

On the other hand, singer Babu Baruah said providing a platform against the CAA was the primary reason why he joined the Congress. “I had opposed the CAA, so did the Congress,” he said after State Congress chief Ripun Bora and the party’s Assam in charge Harish Rawat welcomed him and 33 other artistes.

“People had embraced the BJP in the 2016 Assembly election after taking to its slogan of ‘poribartan’ [change] but they are now seeking ‘porittran’ [respite] through the Congress,” Mr. Bora said.

“People now seeking ‘porittran’”

The BJP, however, claimed the support of the more popular celebrities.

The recent trend of anti-CAA activists joining the party began with actor Jatin Bora. He rejoined the BJP on August 17 after seeking an apology from party leaders for leaving them at the peak of the anti-CAA movement. “I joined the BJP in 2015 but quit out of fear during the anti-CAA movement, which caused heavy loss to Assam and claimed the lives of five innocent youths,” he said.

More leading personalities who had taken part in the anti-CAA movement joined the BJP two days later. They included popular Assamese singer Vidya Sagar, actor Asha Bordoloi and former All Assam Students’ Union leader Tapan Das.

About a fortnight ago, singer-composer Zubeen Garg was appointed as the brand ambassador of Assam’s Agriculture sector. He too had actively taken part in the anti-CAA protests.