Rejaul Karim Sarkar hits back at CM Sarma, says he quit Congress over “BJP agents” within party

The political slugfest between the ruling BJP and the Assam Congress intensified on Wednesday, January 14 after former minority leader Rejaul Karim Sarkar broke his silence on Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s remarks, asserting that he resigned from the Congress on his own terms and accusing the party of being compromised by “BJP and Chief Minister’s agents.”

Reacting to CM Sarma’s claim that the Congress leadership should have expelled him and that his resignation had turned him into a “hero,” Sarkar dismissed the Chief Minister’s comments as politically irrelevant. Speaking to the media in Bongaigaon district, Sarkar said he had no interest in remaining in a party that, according to him, lacked ideological clarity and internal integrity.

“No one makes anyone a hero. What the Chief Minister says or does not say—whether he expels me or not—does not matter to me. I had joined the Congress to counter the Chief Minister and to work for the minority community. But the party is riddled with BJP agents and the Chief Minister’s agents. A party infiltrated by such forces can never move forward. I do not want to stay in such a party, which is why I resigned on my own,” Sarkar said.

The remarks came a day after Chief Minister Sarma launched a scathing attack on Lok Sabha MP and Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Gaurav Gogoi, accusing the Congress leadership of political weakness and moral failure in handling the controversy surrounding Sarkar.

On Wednesday, January 14, Sarma alleged that Gogoi failed to demonstrate the political courage required to take decisive disciplinary action against Sarkar following his controversial remarks, which the Chief Minister said threatened Assam’s social harmony and demographic balance. According to Sarma, Sarkar should have been immediately expelled or boycotted by the Congress.

Mocking the Congress’s handling of the episode, Sarma said the party’s inaction had inadvertently elevated Sarkar’s political profile. “Gaurav Gogoi did not have the courage to expel Rejaul Karim. Now, by resigning himself, Rejaul has become a hero,” Sarma remarked. He further claimed that several Congress leaders were working for him politically, adding that he would be “happy” if anyone chose to align with his leadership.

The controversy has its roots in January 11, when Sarkar, former president of the All Assam Minorities Students’ Union (AAMSU), formally joined the Congress at a programme held at the Manabendra Sharma Complex in Guwahati. The induction, attended by APCC chief Gaurav Gogoi, was projected as part of the Congress’s broader strategy to mobilise minority youth support ahead of the 2026 Assam Assembly elections.

However, the political narrative quickly unraveled after Sarkar made a series of remarks during the joining event that sparked widespread outrage. He claimed that under the Congress’s vision of “Bor Asom” (Greater Assam), districts across the state would be transformed into one another. “We will make Sivasagar like Dhubri, turn Dhubri into Sivasagar, make Barak like Sivasagar, and turn Tinsukia into Dhubri,” Sarkar had said.

The comments triggered sharp backlash from political parties and civil society groups, with critics interpreting the remarks as an attempt to alter Assam’s demographic and cultural identity. Chief Minister Sarma accused Gogoi of remaining a “silent spectator” during the speech and warned that such statements promoted a dangerous narrative involving the relocation of migrants into indigenous-dominated regions.

Sarma asserted that such remarks were unacceptable and claimed that had such statements been made in his presence, the speaker would have been “shoved out” immediately.