Nine Congress MLAs in Assam joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday in the presence of several senior party leaders including Ram Madhav.
Madhav welcomed the Congress legislators in his party and said that they would be given due respect and recognition in the BJP.
"Those who are joining our party have better future. We will definitely give them required respect and position in the party," he said.
The move comes ahead of next year's assembly polls in the state. All of the nine legislators are close associates of former Congress minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is now a BJP leader.