Bhupen Kumar Borah resigns from Congress, then changes decision after speaking to Rahul

Within hours after resigning from the party ahead of the Assembly elections in Assam, former state Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah made an u-turn on Monday (February 16) and reversed his decision. According to sources in Congress, Borah changed his mind after Rahul Gandhi spoke to him over the phone for 15 minutes.

Borah had reportedly sent his resignation letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, alleging that he was being "ignored" by the party leadership and was not being accorded his due in the state unit.

Letter to Mallikarjun Kharge

Borah, who was the president of the Assam Congress unit from 2021 to 2025, was replaced by Gaurav Gogoi last year. He had earlier told reporters in Guwahati that he sent his resignation to the Congress high command at 8 am, mentioning in detail why he took the step.

''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.

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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,'' he said. Borah said no party has given him ''any proposal till now''. Assembly elections are due in Assam in a couple of months.

Differences over alliance talks

Sources close to Borah say that while he had been unhappy ever since he was forced to step down as PCC chief to make way for Gogoi, the latest flashpoint between the two was over Gogoi repeatedly overriding Borah on various matters, including alliance talks.

The Congress had authorised Borah to finalise seat-sharing talks with allies in Assam as he, during his 4-year tenure as Assam PCC chief, had worked hard to stitch together an anti-BJP front; an initiative that repeatedly ran into hurdles because of leaders like Gaurav Gogoi, Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain and others who felt the party shouldn't be ceding space to anyone.

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Raijor Dal chief and Sibsagar MLA Akhil Gogoi, with whom Borah had built up a rapport, has said he and other anti-BJP parties will ensure Borah doesn't join BJP and remains within the Opposition camp.

Borah had been instrumental in ensuring that the Raijor Dal returns to the alliance talks with the Congress after their earlier talks had detailed. Borah has confirmed receiving calls from Akhil Gogoi and the AJP, another potential Congress ally, while denying having any contact with Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Himanta on Borah's resignation

Earlier, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said Borah’s resignation sends what he described as a pointed signal to the Congress that those without pedigree struggle to rise within its ranks.

“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,'' he told reporters outside the Assembly.

Sarma said he plans to visit Borah at his residence tomorrow evening to discuss what lies ahead. For now, he added, Borah has “not contacted me or the BJP till now, and at present, we are not in direct or indirect touch”.

Also Read: Congress to focus on local issues in Assam after Bihar vote chori debacle

''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.

The chief minister said he would meet Borah during his “difficult time”, recalling, ''I remember that both of us had joined the Congress around the same time. I left the party after 22 years, and he lasted a little longer.''

(With agency inputs)