'Even if he leaves, we will remain': Assam Congress LoP shrugs off Bhupen Borah's BJP switch as inconsequential

Assam Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia dismissed the impact of former Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah's jump to the BJP, insisting it poses no threat to the party.

 

“It will not cause any harm because the leaders and workers of his constituency, from where he had been preparing to contest for the last three years, did not decide to go with him,” Saikia said. According to him, local party members made their stand clear: “Even if he leaves, we will remain in Congress. Therefore, we will not suffer any harm.”

 

Saikia said the party’s focus remained on strengthening its grassroots network and “making people aware of those who are doing injustice and working against the Constitution.”

 

Borah made his switch official on February 22 in the presence of BJP state president Dilip Saikia and MP Baijayant Panda, just months before Assam's assembly elections. The move follows Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's February 17 announcement, after Borah quit Congress.

 

Reflecting on his 32-year stint, Borah had earlier credited himself with key shifts, including ending the Congress-AIUDF alliance upon becoming APCC president in 2021 and later building ties with 16 parties before the INDIA bloc.

 

"I gave 32 years to the Congress party. Congress made me from an MLA to APCC President... When I became president in 2021, Congress was in alliance with AIUDF. I broke the alliance. After that, before the INDIA alliance was formed, I forged alliances with 16 parties," he said.

 

Borah also cited internal rifts, claiming Gaurav Gogoi humiliated him publicly and ignored his complaints even to Rahul Gandhi.