Debabrata Saikia counters Rejaul Sarkar: ‘A BJP agent wouldn’t last 10 years in Congress

Responding sharply to allegations levelled by former All Assam Minorities Students’ Union (AAMSU) president Rejaul Karim Sarkar, Assam Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia said he had strongly disagreed with Sarkar’s remarks on the very day he joined the Congress, asserting that Dhubri and Sivasagar each have their own distinct cultural fabric which should not be disturbed. 

Questioning the allegation that he was a BJP agent, an Assam Chief Minister’s agent or anti-minority, Saikia said he could not understand whether he should “laugh or cry”, adding that if he were indeed a BJP agent, the Congress would have taken action against him at some point over the last ten years.

Saikia’s response comes a day after Sarkar resigned from the Indian National Congress, alleging deep ideological and moral differences with the party’s senior leadership in Assam. In his resignation letter dated January 14, 2026, addressed to Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Gaurav Gogoi, Sarkar said he had joined the Congress inspired by its secular ideology, inclusive politics and commitment to constitutional values.

However, Sarkar claimed that recent statements and public positions taken by senior leaders, particularly Debabrata Saikia and Nagaon MP Pradyut Bordoloi, caused him “deep moral and ideological anguish” and severely demoralised him while also maligning his public image. In a strongly worded letter, he alleged that the conduct of the two leaders was akin to that of “BJP agents”, making it impossible for him to continue in the party.

“Under these circumstances, I find it difficult to continue my association with the party,” Sarkar wrote, tendering his resignation from the primary membership of the Congress with immediate effect, while wishing the party success in the future.

The public exchange has laid bare growing internal fault lines within the Assam Congress, coming close on the heels of Sarkar’s short-lived association with the party and adding to the leadership’s challenges ahead of the next electoral cycle.