Big Jolt to Congress Ahead of Assam Polls: Ex-State Chief Bhupen Borah Resigns, BJP Extends ‘Safe Seat’ Invite
In a major jolt to the Congress ahead of the assembly polls in Assam, the former state unit chief Bhupen Kumar Borah resigned from the party on Monday. Within hours, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the doors of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were open for Borah. Borah was the president of the Assam Congress unit from 2021 to 2025, and was replaced by Gaurav Gogoi last year. He has been a two-time legislator in Assam.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said that the doors of the BJP were open for Borah. Sarma also said that if Borah joins the BJP, he would try to get him elected from a “safe seat”. Sarma said Borah was the “last Hindu leader” in the Congress without a family background – father or mother not occupying a ministerial post or being an MLA.
“His resignation carries the symbolic message that in the Congress, no one from a normal family can prosper. Congress does not give recognition to people from ordinary families, but I hail from an ordinary middle class family and the BJP has made me a chief minister. We stay opposite to the politics of blue blood,” Sarma told reporters in Guwahati outside the assembly.
Sarma said that he will visit Borah at his residence tomorrow and discuss his plans for the future. However, he clarified that Borah had not contacted him or the BJP till now and “at present, we are not in direct or indirect touch”. “If he wants to join the BJP, we will welcome him, but even if he does not want to do so, we extend our best wishes to him,” Sarma said.
Borah sent his resignation letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge earlier in the day, dealing a blow to the party ahead of the Assam assembly polls. In his letter, Borah said that he was being “ignored” by the party leadership and not being accorded his due in the state unit.
Borah said he has not “resigned from the party due to any particular person or any personal reason.” “I have served the Congress for 32 years, and I am worried about the future of the party. I have explained in detail about my reasons in the resignation letter sent to the party high command,” Borah said.
“I don’t want to say anything more than this. I will invite mediapersons at an appropriate time and give all the details. I don’t hide anything and will not take any step in secrecy,” he said. On joining any other party before the elections, Borah said no party has given him “any proposal till now.”
Bhupen Borah told reports that Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi had met him yesterdat. Gogoi “met me yesterday and we talked about several issues at a personal level,” he said. On being asked about his resignation, Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi said, “We won’t let Bhupen Borah join the BJP. Together, we can form a stronger opposition to defeat the BJP.”
