Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said the doors of the BJP were open for Bhupen Borah, hours after the former state Congress chief resigned from the party. Sarma added that if Borah joins the BJP, he would try to secure him a “safe seat”.
Borah had sent his resignation letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge earlier in the day, delivering a blow to the party ahead of the Assam assembly polls. In the letter, he alleged he was being “ignored” by the party leadership and not accorded his due in the state unit.
Borah served as Assam Congress president from 2021 to 2025 and was replaced by Gaurav Gogoi last year. He is a two-time legislator in the state.
Sarma described Borah as the “last Hindu leader” in Congress without a political family background.
''His resignation carries the symbolic message that in the Congress, no one from a normal family can prosper. Congress does not give recognition to people from ordinary families, but I hail from an ordinary middle class family and the BJP has made me a chief minister. We stay opposite to the politics of blue blood,'' Sarma said outside the assembly.
The chief minister added that he would visit Borah at his residence on Tuesday evening to discuss his future plans.
''Borah has not contacted me or the BJP till now and at present, we are not in direct or indirect touch. If he wants to join the BJP, we will welcome him, but even if he does not want to do so, we extend our best wishes to him,'' Sarma said, emphasising that he intended to support Borah in his “difficult time”.
Also read: Ex-Assam Cong chief Bhupen Borah quits party
Recalling their parallel political journeys, Sarma said, ''I remember that both of us had joined the Congress around the same time. I left the party after 22 years and he lasted a little longer.''
Sarma claimed Borah’s resignation letter criticised Congress for indulging in appeasement politics, and noted that “Gaurav Gogoi could not give a proper clarification on his Pakistan visit”.
He also cited Borah’s concerns about internal Congress dynamics: “One is Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain is now controlling the Congress, and the reason for this was that Gaurav Gogoi will not contest from the Jorhat parliamentary constituency, but from Nagaon in the next polls for which he will need Hussain.”
Sarma further predicted that Nagaon MP Pradyut Bora would leave the Congress in 2029, and Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia “will lose his Nazira seat”.
He added, ''I will then approach his mother and former minister Hemaprova Saikia to bring him into the BJP by 2027, as I am indebted to his father and former CM Hiteswar Saikia.''
Looking ahead, Sarma claimed that within five years, “'Azaan' will be called from the Congress office”, and only Hindus whose parents had been ministers or MLAs would remain, “while mutton and some other meat will be served in the office”.
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