Former Assam Congress president Bhupen Borah on Monday morning said he he had quit the party, calling time on a 32-year association. The move – taken to 'protect my self-respect', he told reporters at 8 am – sent shockwaves through the beleaguered opposition party weeks before an Assembly election.
Hours later, after a Congress firefight that included Rahul Gandhi weighing in and a meeting with Gaurav Gogoi, the party's Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Borah said he had sought a day's time to "think it over".
"The Congress High Command did not know many things happening here (in the party's Assam unit). I had to write to them... today my party leaders came to me so I have discussed this. I have sought one day's time to think it over and tomorrow I will meet Jitendra Singh again to (convey) my decision."
Singh, the Congress' former state-in-charge, said the matter had been born out of "disagreements".
"Bhupen Borah is a very senior leader of ours... (and) sometimes there are disagreements within the family. But our party is a democratic party... it is not like other parties, where people have to keep their mouths shut, otherwise the Enforcement Department immediately comes," he said, taking a jab at the BJP over opposition party claims that it uses federal agencies to intimidate rivals before elections.
Visuals from earlier in the day, shared by news agency ANI, showed Gaurav Gogoi at Bhupen Borah's residence. Gogoi reportedly told him the central leadership did not accept his resignation.
Borah, when he announced his resignation, had complained the party was failing to take "timely and decisive calls on organisational matters". “The party is unable to even decide who should attend its rallies and who should not,” he said, blaming a lack of internal coordination.
RECAP | "Quit For Self-Respect": Borah Resigns From Congress After 32 Years
He did not offer names but hinted at 'persistent internal issues and a leadership paralysis' that he said had made it difficult to continue in the Congress, which faces an uphill battle to offer any sort of challenge to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the election expected in March/April.
Borah had announced his resignation days before senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was to visit; the Wayanad MP is due in the northeastern state from February 18.
The two-time MLA's resignation was met with sharp remarks by BJP leader and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who attacked the Congress on 'dynastic politics'. He said the resignation "carries a symbolic message that, in the Congress, no one from a normal family can prosper."
Sarma said he "welcomed" the resignation but played down any talk of Borah in the BJP, something he admitted was a possibility in the past. "He has not contacted us to join… I will visit his house. Three years ago, we were ready to welcome Bhupen Borah and give him a safe seat."
Sarma also slammed the Congress' "terrible position" before the election and used Borah's Hindu background to fire what were widely seen as communal jabs at the opposition party.
"In many district offices of Congress meetings begin with a religious prayer from a particular community. The Congress in Assam is changing fast. People are noticing…" he said.
In the 2021 Assam election the Congress won just 29 of the 95 seats it contested, a marginal improvement from five years earlier. The party-led alliance managed just 50 seats overall.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, meanwhile, scored an easy win with 75 seats.
With input from agencies
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
