Congress faces Assam crisis as exodus grows, pressure mounts on Gandhi siblings

The Congress party’s continuing crisis of attrition in Assam has, arguably, dealt a near-fatal blow to its dream of recapturing power in its former bastion just weeks ahead of the April 9 Assembly elections. The flames of discontent and dissension may, for now, be directed largely at Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi but, if murmurs within the party are anything to go by, it will not be long before they scorch the Congress high command, particularly Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and his sister, Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi.

Also read | Assam: Can attrition-ridden Congress stop Himanta 2.0? | AI With Sanket

On March 18, the party’s sitting Lok Sabha MP from Nagaon, Pradyut Bordoloi, switched to the BJP, while Navajyoti Talukdar, vice president of the Assam Congress unit, also quit the party. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has claimed that more Congress leaders, including Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia, son of former chief minister and Congress stalwart Hiteswar Saikia, will soon jump ship. Talukdar, too, is learnt to be headed to the BJP.

BJP capitalises on turmoil

Bordoloi’s defection and Talukdar’s resignation come a month after former Assam Congress chief Bhupen Borah joined the BJP. Bordoloi, who will now have to vacate his Lok Sabha seat, and Borah have both been fielded by the BJP for the April 9 Assembly polls from Dispur and Bihpuria, respectively.

Immediate commentary on this latest turbulence in the Congress has centred on Gogoi’s inability to stabilise the party in the 10 months since he took charge. The reasons cited by leaders making a beeline for the BJP follow a familiar script: they were humiliated or sidelined under Gogoi’s leadership, or that Muslim leaders in the state unit, particularly Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain, were calling the shots with Gogoi’s backing.

Bordoloi and Talukdar added a third grievance while quitting: that Saharanpur MP Imran Masood, a member of the Priyanka Gandhi-led committee for screening candidates, was a “communal leader” who “refuses to sing Vande Mataram”.

These claims by defectors predictably strengthen the BJP’s two-pronged offensive against the Congress. On one hand, Gogoi, the party’s notional chief ministerial face, remains the BJP’s primary target in the Assam campaign. On the other, the BJP continues to paint the Congress as an anti-Hindu, pro-Muslim outfit, weaponising communal polarisation to its electoral advantage. However, Congress insiders believe a third prong of this strategy is playing out more subtly.

Rahul, Priyanka face heat

“This isn’t just about hollowing out the Congress in Assam or ensuring our defeat. The real targets are Rahul and Priyanka,” said a senior Congress office-bearer. “Of the five states going to polls, Assam is the only one where the Congress and the BJP are in a direct contest and where Rahul and Priyanka have personally handpicked the entire election team. If things go badly, it won’t be Gaurav alone who is targeted; it will be them.”

A Congress MLA and member of the party’s campaign committee echoed this view. “The decision to replace Bhupen Borah with Gogoi as state chief was taken by Rahul. Perhaps he believed appointing a young Ahom leader with Tarun Gogoi’s legacy would send a positive message and signal combativeness, especially as the chief minister was relentlessly targeting him. Whether it was a good decision or not, the results will show but the fact is that senior leaders like Borah, Bordoloi, and even Debabrata Saikia were not happy,” the MLA said.

The leader added that Jitendra Singh, also a Rahul appointee, has remained the party’s Assam in-charge for over six years despite the Congress losing the 2021 elections under his watch. “Many leaders have repeatedly complained about his incompetence. Rahul’s team of Gogoi and Singh had already been running the party when Priyanka was appointed to head the screening committee. So, while Gogoi may be the face, the election is being supervised directly by Rahul and Priyanka. If the BJP wins, it will project the result as a rejection of the Gandhi family. Himanta, given his history with Rahul, will say Rahul ruined the Congress in Assam.”

Insiders say Gogoi’s appointment and his style of functioning ruffled feathers, giving leaders like Borah and Bordoloi a “convenient excuse” to switch sides. Many fear that if the party loses, the blame will ultimately be attributed to Rahul, who chose Gogoi. By involving Priyanka directly in candidate selection, the leadership has only compounded its vulnerability.

Gogoi struggles against Himanta

“Gaurav Gogoi may be a third-term MP and heir to Tarun Gogoi’s legacy, but he lacks the experience needed to navigate complex state politics, especially when the party is at its weakest and facing an opponent like Himanta Biswa Sarma,” said another Congress leader. “Himanta’s political upbringing happened in the Congress. He knows every senior Congress leader in Assam. Since joining the BJP in 2015, he has systematically dismantled the party and taken away not just our first but even second-rung leadership.”

Also read | BJP's Assam gamble: Fresh faces, turncoats displace party heavyweights in 88-candidate list

Within the Assam Congress, there is a growing perception that Himanta has “weaponised” Gogoi’s appointment. While Rahul may have believed Gogoi would strengthen the party, many now see him as a liability. “He is a good orator and popular among the youth, but he lacks the political instincts to take on Himanta,” the office-bearer said.

Several leaders, including those reportedly being approached by the BJP, told The Federal that Rahul’s “blind faith” in feedback from Gogoi and Jitendra Singh has worsened internal discontent. Senior leaders feel sidelined and uncertain about their political futures amid the party’s electoral regression.

A leader described Gogoi as “deeply insecure” and pointed to a “peculiar similarity” between how Rahul and Gogoi view their colleagues. “Rahul suspects senior leaders of being compromised or disloyal. In Assam, Gogoi views his colleagues similarly; either as moles working for Himanta or as seniors who do not take him seriously because they had worked alongside his father, Tarun Gogoi. Perhaps because of this peculiar similarity, Rahul accepts whatever Gogoi tells him without question, not realising the damage it is causing,” the leader said.

Leadership fails to stop exodus

When Priyanka Gandhi was appointed in January to head the candidate selection panel, many in the state unit hoped she would act as a troubleshooter. However, even before her first visit, the party’s troubles escalated with Borah’s exit. A month later, Bordoloi followed suit. Priyanka described his departure as “unfortunate” and attributed it to dissatisfaction with ticket distribution.

A Congress leader from Margherita, Bordoloi’s former Assembly constituency, said, “If ticket distribution was the reason, it was Priyanka’s responsibility. What did she do to prevent his resignation?” While calling Bordoloi’s exit “a betrayal”, the leader added that he could have been persuaded to stay had the high command intervened. “Neither Rahul nor Priyanka made an effort. He was hounded out by Gogoi and Jitendra Singh.”

The timing of these exits has been particularly damaging. Borah was heading the campaign committee, while Bordoloi was leading the manifesto drafting committee and had recently released a chargesheet against the BJP government. Within a month, the party lost both its campaign chief and the author of its manifesto just weeks before polling.

Even leaders at the AICC, many of whom believe the battle in Assam was already lost, have been alarmed by the party’s rapid decline in a state once considered its strongest electoral citadel in the northeast. “We have created a complete mess,” said a Congress Working Committee member. “Do we look ready to face elections? The leadership needs serious introspection. Look at how we handled the resignations; Gogoi and Singh met these leaders, declared to the press – in Borah’s case, with him sitting at that press conference next to Jitendra Singh – that everything was sorted, and then they joined the BJP. How can you be so politically naïve?”

Assam test for Priyanka

For Priyanka Gandhi, the developments are particularly concerning. Her role in Assam was her first significant organisational assignment since she led the party to its disastrous performance in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, where Congress won just two seats. Since then, she has functioned as party general secretary without a defined portfolio, focusing instead on campaigning, behind-the-scenes troubleshooting and, since her election as Wayanad MP in 2024, parliamentary interventions to take on the BJP.

Also read | Assam MP Pradyut Bordoloi joins BJP after quitting Congress ahead of Assembly polls

Her appointment as head of the Assam screening committee was seen as a step towards a larger role within the party. The current situation risks creating poor optics for Priyanka. The BJP had, in fact, prophesised such an eventuality the moment Priyanka was assigned the role in Assam on January 3. BJP leaders, including Sarma, had claimed that Priyanka was given charge of Assam because she was outshining Rahul politically.

The claims were clearly aimed at driving a wedge within the Gandhi siblings; something that may still seem like wishful thinking on the BJP’s part. Yet, for BJP, a victory in Assam would not merely signify another electoral success but also serve as yet another symbolic rejection of the Gandhi family.

For the Congress and the Gandhi siblings, the situation is far more precarious. The steady stream of defections, internal distrust, and leadership missteps have combined to strengthen the perception of a party in perpetual disarray despite the direct oversight of both Rahul and Priyanka.