Bhupen Borah’s BJP switch: Ghosts of past rifts haunt Congress before Assam elections

NEW DELHI: Is Congress faltering even before the run-up to the Assam assembly elections?

Earlier on Sunday, the Congress in Assam faced its most significant setback yet as former state chief Bhupen Borah formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at their headquarters, Vajpayee Bhawan. While the defection of a state president is a seismic event in its own right, for the Congress, the true weight of the moment lies in its resemblance to the events of 2015.

It appears the "ghosts" of the past have returned to haunt the grand-old party just as the state gears up for the 2026 assembly elections.




Ahead of the 2016 assembly elections, Himana left Congress after the party high command projected Tarun Gogoi's son as the face of Assam’s Congress leadership despite Sarma's key role in managing the 2011 election campaign for the party and helping it win an unprecedented 79 seats in the 126-member assembly.

Recalling the event, Sarma recently claimed that Sonia had virtually cleared his name for the chief minister’s post -- only for a phone call from Rahul Gandhi to change everything.

“Madam (Sonia Gandhi), whom I still refer to as such, had asked me to decide on the date and I had told her that I would take oath the day after the Ambubachi Mela at Kamakhya Temple in June (2014),” he said.

“The situation changed after Rahul Gandhi made the calls,” Sarma added.

Déjà vu

History repeated itself in Borah’s case. Following his resignation, Congress leaders reached out to a long-faced Borah but failed. All India Congress Committee (AICC) state in-charge Jitendra Singh stated that Borah had “withdrawn” his resignation after discussions with the party leadership, including Rahul Gandhi, and that the resignation had not been accepted.

However, Borah claimed Rahul called him “but did not say a word” about his resignation letter.

“He mentioned how we helped the party grow, and he helped me over the years, which is true, but he did not say a word about my resignation letter,” Borah told news agency PTI.

“I had told Rahul Gandhi that I am feeling humiliated in the party, and then he said that he was also feeling humiliated. Then what is the value of my humiliation? I cannot tolerate such humiliation as I do not have so much capacity,” he added.

During this time, the Assam chief minister announced that the doors of the BJP were open for Borah, promising that he would help him win from a “safe seat” in the assembly polls.

Why Borah cut ties with Congress

Many flashpoints contributed to the bitterness between Borah and Congress. In his letter to Kharge, Borah listed his grievances against Gaurav Gogoi and Rakibul Hussain.

After resigning from the party, Borah launched an attack on a section of Congress leaders without taking names. He said he was prepared to stay in the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) but not in “APCC (R),” in an apparent reference to Hussain.

“The prevailing perception in Assam is that the state unit of the Congress is being steered under the influence of Rakibul Hussain, a leadership arrangement that has not found resonance with a substantial section of the majority community in Upper Assam. His apparent connivance with Shri Jitendra Singh has further propelled the party towards calamity, pushing it to the brink of disaster and leading it ominously towards political doom. Politics, after all, is as much about perception as it is about principle, and when confidence erodes across key constituencies, the consequences are neither trivial nor transient,” the letter read.

Borah also accused Gogoi of subjecting him to marginalisation in the party’s decision-making process.

“Personal reversals I can withstand, but self-respect and dignity are not currencies with which I may barter. I find myself neither consulted on substantive party matters nor accorded the regard befitting a senior colleague. I do not articulate these reflections in a spirit of rancour, but in genuine perplexity as to why I appear to have been subjected to marginalisation at the hands of Gaurav Gogoi and Rakibul Hussain,” the letter read.

Later, he alleged that Gogoi had broken the opposition alliance that he had stitched together a few years ago, fearing that if the opposition came to power “by chance,” he might not become the chief minister.

“When I was given the responsibility to take the alliance forward once again on February 9, what was the point of including Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain in the talks?” he asked.

“Gogoi perhaps felt that if the alliance took shape, then Bhupen Borah would put everything amicably before Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, threatening his existence,” he claimed.

Borah, who was chairman of the ‘Assam Sanmilita Mancha’ — a front of 16 opposition parties — also claimed that before the bypolls to five assembly constituencies in 2024, it was decided that a CPI(ML) candidate would contest the Behali seat as the outfit had secured 40,000 votes in the previous election.

“I agreed to it, but my proposal was not considered by the AICC. Two or three leaders from the state unit also started discussing other names. Finally, a person was named as the Congress candidate who, till then, was not even a member of the party,” he said.

“The leaders of the other alliance parties then told me that if you cannot leave even one seat out of the five, what is there left to discuss for the 126 seats in the next elections? I then resigned as head of the coalition on moral grounds, and the Congress candidate lost badly,” he added.

Borah also said that Congress state in-charge Jitendra Singh chaired a meeting with six leaders on February 9, where he was given responsibility for taking forward alliance talks ahead of the assembly polls.

“I accepted it as it was the party’s decision. I also felt that an alliance was necessary as Congress could not tackle the BJP alone. I saw a need to unite anti-BJP votes,” he said.

He added that the next day, Gogoi told him Rakibul Hussain would be actively involved in the talks.

“I told him this was not the decision taken at the meeting. In the meantime, Nagaon Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi called me and said that if Rakibul was there, he would not tolerate it,” Borah claimed.

“Amid this, Gaurav publicly said I was spreading misinformation about leading the talks. I had already spoken to leaders of other parties, including Akhil Gogoi,” he said.

‘Congress separating itself from Hindu society’

Meanwhile, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed Borah’s resignation marked a “separation” of Congress from Hindu society, calling him the last recognised Hindu leader in the state unit.

“Bhupen Borah was the last recognised Hindu leader of the Congress,” Sarma said.

Sarma asserted that more Congress leaders would cross over to the BJP and claimed disillusioned Muslim leaders might join Raijor Dal.

“The BJP will have Raijor Dal and not Congress as its opposition in the 2031 assembly polls,” he claimed.

Drawing parallels with his own journey, Sarma said Borah’s resignation reflected deeper issues within Congress.

“His resignation carries the symbolic message that in Congress, no one from a normal family can prosper. Congress does not give recognition to people from ordinary families. I hail from an ordinary middle-class family, and the BJP has made me a chief minister,” he said.

Congress marred with infights?

Assam is not the only state where Congress is facing internal rifts.

In Karnataka, chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy DK Shivakumar have publicly displayed tensions. In Odisha, Mohammed Moquim resigned, citing organisational issues.

During the Bihar assembly elections, cracks resurfaced within Congress’s state unit. Rebel leaders protested after being denied tickets. The party eventually emerged as the weakest link in its alliance, recording the lowest strike rate among major partners.

Borah now joins a growing list of leaders who exited Congress after clashes with the high command or state-level rivalries, including Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and Jitin Prasada, all of whom quit the party to join rivals.

In the run-up to assembly elections in the state, the Congress finds itself at a crossroads, trying to navigate not only the BJP but also the familiar internal frictions that have historically hindered its momentum.
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