Pradyut Bordoloi alleges humiliation by Gaurav Gogoi and Imran Masood in a letter to Jitendra Singh

Lok Sabha MP from Assam’s Nagaon, Pradyut Bordoloi, on March 15 issued an ultimatum to the Central leadership of the Indian National Congress, threatening to resign from the party over the selection of candidate for the Lahorighat Assembly constituency in the forthcoming Assam Assembly elections. In a strongly worded communication to the party’s central leadership, Bordoloi expressed deep anguish over the decision, while directly accusing Assam Pradesh Congress Committee chief Gaurav Gogoi and senior Congress leader Imran Masood of subjecting him to humiliation during internal discussions on the candidature issue. In a strongly worded letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, the AICC general secretary in charge of Assam, Bordoloi expressed “pain and anguish” over what he termed the party leadership’s failure to address concerns he had repeatedly raised regarding the candidature of sitting MLA Asif Mohammad Nazar.
 

Bordoloi, said his political life had been shaped by the party and that he had always taken pride in being a first-generation politician nurtured by the Congress. However, he said recent developments within the party had left him deeply hurt.

“I am writing this letter to you with a lot of pain and anguish,” Bordoloi wrote, stating that while political life often involves insults, setbacks and disappointments, what he found “unpalatable and unfathomable” was what he described as a lack of camaraderie and understanding among senior colleagues within the party.

The Nagaon MP alleged that his concerns stem from a violent attack he faced in April 2025. According to Bordoloi, Nagaon Police arrested and chargesheeted Emdadul Islam, whom he described as a “history-sheeter” from Lahorighat and a close associate of MLA Asif Nazar, as the alleged kingpin behind a murderous attack on him.

Bordoloi claimed the incident took place on April 27, 2025, when a hooded group of nearly 20 assailants armed with iron rods and other weapons attacked the vehicle in which he was travelling along with MLA Sibamoni Bora at Doomdoomia in Dhing.

What further aggravated his concerns, Bordoloi said, was the alleged “hero’s welcome” accorded to the accused after he secured bail. In his letter, the MP alleged that Nazar publicly received Emdadul Islam after his release and later took him to the residence of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Gaurav Gogoi.

 

He further claimed that on January 11 this year, the accused was formally felicitated during a programme attended by Gogoi. Bordoloi said he immediately called the APCC president to protest and shared details about the alleged criminal background of the individual.

However, Bordoloi expressed shock that the following day, during a large party event in Morigaon which he also attended, the same individual was seated on the stage behind Gogoi along with Nazar.

The senior Congress leader said he had subsequently placed evidence before the party’s screening committee, chaired by Priyanka Gandhi, opposing Nazar’s candidature for the 2026 Assembly elections.

Bordoloi further alleged that during a meeting of the Congress Central Election Committee in New Delhi on March 13, a member of the screening committee and Uttar Pradesh MP Imran Masood dismissed his claims as “false and fabricated” before the party’s top leadership.

According to Bordoloi, the meeting was attended by senior leaders including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, leader Rahul Gandhi, and AICC general secretary K. C. Venugopal.

Describing the episode as deeply humiliating, Bordoloi wrote that the silence of the Assam PCC president during the discussion further compounded his distress.

“My humiliation before the entire leadership of the Congress party was deafeningly complete,” he wrote, adding that he felt his concerns and evidence had not been defended or even acknowledged.

In the concluding portion of the letter, Bordoloi reiterated that he was once again submitting evidence regarding the alleged criminal nexus and urged Jitendra Singh to intervene.

“As I go down fighting to protect my own dignity before the reactionary leadership of the state,” Bordoloi wrote, signalling that his political future within the party could depend on how the leadership responds to his concerns.

Notably, Asif Mohammad Nazar, the Congress legislator from Lahorighat, Assam, was one of four Congress members apprehended by the Dispur police in Guwahati recently over transporting a truckload of printed leaflets containing allegations and objectionable material against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.