On Monday, 16th February, former Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah resigned from the party ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections. A day after dramatic efforts by Congress leaders to persuade him to stay, former Assam Congress president has made it clear that he is leaving the party and will join the BJP.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, 17th February, Borah openly criticised the functioning of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC), saying that real decision-making power is concentrated in the hands of Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain.
“The APCC is now APCC-R, which is difficult for me. I want to be part of APCC, but not APCC-R. It’s like a faction of a party,” Borah said. He claimed that leaders who want to survive in Congress must align themselves with this alleged faction. “Those close to me in the Congress over the years, I have told them that if you want to survive in Congress, don’t be in APCC, you have to be in APCC-R,” he added, suggesting that many party members feel sidelined but are reluctant to quit.
Talking about the Samaguri by-election that took place in November 2024, Borah said, “Hussain’s son, Tanzil, was nominated from the seat because Hussain shifted to the Lok Sabha.” The Congress party73 ultimately lost the by-election, with BJP’s Diplu Ranjan Sarmah winning the Muslim-majority seat.
Borah revealed that he wanted to contest from Samaguri himself. “If I were truly the APCC president, if I had contested the by-election from Samaguri, wouldn’t it have been for the benefit of the party?” he asked. He also said that party leaders like Debabrata Saikia and Paaban Singh Ghatowar had urged him to contest.
Dramatic political turn after resignation
The political events took a dramatic turn after Borah put in his resignation to Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday morning (16th February). The resignation led to frantic political activity in Guwahati, with Congress leaders rushing to Borah’s residence to persuade him to withdraw his resignation.
Among those who met him were Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi, AICC general secretary in charge of Assam Jitendra Singh, Assam Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia, MP Pradyut Bordoloi, and AICC national secretary Manoj Chauhan. After the meeting, Jitendra Singh told the media that Borah’s resignation had not been accepted. Borah himself had then said he needed “some time” before taking a final call.
However, within a day, he made his decision public and confirmed that he would be joining the BJP, ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in the state. The Election Commission is yet to announce the poll dates.
The 55-year-old Borah was replaced as state president in May 2025, with Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi taking charge. He had earlier led the party during a politically challenging period and was seen as a prominent face of the Congress in Assam.
