Assam Congress's 'last Hindu neta' Bhupen Borah joining BJP on February 22: CM Himanta Biswa

GUWAHATI: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday evening said former Assam Congress president Bhupen Borah will join BJP on Feb 22, ending speculation within 48 hours of Borah quitting Congress.

After meeting Borah at his residence in Guwahati, Sarma announced the timeline and described the move as a major gain for the ruling party. Sarma called Borah the “last recognised Hindu leader in the Congress party” in Assam and said Borah’s politics was rooted in the Assamese community.

“He was the last recognised Hindu leader in Congress. His politics is primarily with the Assamese community,” Sarma said, adding Congress no longer represents mainstream Assamese people.


He alleged that other Congress leaders rely on minority votes to win.

Sarma said BJP would benefit from Borah’s entry because he is a “grassroots level leader” and that his induction would “obviously strengthen the party”. “We are very happy to have him in our party,” Sarma said, adding that Borah would receive “all sorts of respect, dignity”.

Placing Borah’s political career in context, Sarma referred to Borah’s loyalty to former Congress chief minister late Hiteshwar Saikia, whom Sarma also described as his early political mentor. Sarma said he and Borah joined Congress around the early 1990s and contrasted their backgrounds with dynastic politics. “Joining BJP will be like homecoming for him. BJP is a party with lots of people like us whose fathers did not occupy high offices,” Sarma said.

He added that Borah will join BJP in Guwahati along with a sizeable group of Congress leaders, while another set of leaders will join in Borah’s home district of North Lakhimpur. He said BJP national president Nitin Nabin approved the move and welcomed Borah.

Borah had recently served as campaign committee chairman of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, tasked with pushing opposition unity. His resignation on Monday ended a three-decade association with the party and was linked to internal conflicts, including differences involving the Dhubri MP and earlier conflicts with Assam PCC chief Gaurav Gogoi, who replaced Borah last year as state party chief.

On elections, Sarma said Borah would be offered a constituency where BJP can win comfortably. He also dismissed the threat of opposition unity, claiming the opposition could win at most 24 seats where minority votes are decisive.

Sarma predicted further defections from Congress, saying Leader of the Opposition, Debabrata Saikia, would lose the next assembly polls and join BJP, and that Pradyut Bordoloi would enter BJP two months before the 2029 Lok Sabha election. He also said Congress would become insignificant by 2031, with Akhil Gogoi’s Raijor Dal emerging as the main preference of minority voters. “Primarily the grassroots Muslim Congress workers will go to Raijor Dal and the Hindus will come to BJP,” Sarma said.