Guwahati, February 17 In a major setback for the opposition Congress in Assam ahead of the assembly elections, its former state president Bhupen Borah will join the BJP on February 22, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday after meeting him.
Sarma visited Borah's residence in the Ghoramara area of Guwahati, a day after the senior leader resigned from the Congress.
The CM was welcomed by Borah's wife and son with 'aarti'.
After the over one and a half hours long meeting, Sarma announced that Borah will join the BJP along with his supporters, and state BJP president Dilip Saikia will finalize the modalities.
"Borah, along with some of his supporters, will join the BJP in Guwahati, but there will be another joining programme at Lakhimpur from where he hails, as many Congress members have expressed their desire to follow his steps," Sarma said, with the veteran leader by his side.
The CM claimed that Borah's joining the BJP would show that Congress is not a place for Hindus.
"He is the last recognised Hindu leader of the Congress here without family antecedents in the party," he said.
He claimed Bora, who was the state Congress president from 2021 to 2025, has struggled for a long time in the opposition party, and he will get a platform in the BJP to do what he wants.
Sarma, who also switched to the BJP from the Congress in 2015, said he met Borah after a long time.
"We did not talk much about politics but caught up on old times," he added.
Asked about the seat from which Borah will contest the assembly polls, Sarma said, "He is not joining the BJP in exchange for an assembly seat. There is no bargaining involved... If required, he can even contest from Jalukbari (the CM's constituency)."
The CM claimed that Congress should have addressed the issues that forced Borah to leave the party after 32 years and taken corrective measures.
"The Congress addresses issues with appeasement. It was only after he had tendered his resignation that party leadership rushed to his residence," he said.
Sarma said Borah's joining will help the BJP as he is a "grassroots leader" and his resignation will create a huge "psychological impact" on Congress workers, with many likely to follow him.
He claimed that there are also many grassroots Muslim leaders in the Congress who are disillusioned and will join the Raijor Dal led by Akhil Gogoi in the future.
"The BJP will have Raijor Dal and not the Congress as its opposition in the 2031 assembly polls," he claimed.
Sarma reiterated his allegations about state Congress president Gaurav Gogoi and his family's Pakistani links.
"Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain is not acceptable to mainstream Assamese people, and the Congress did not realise this but gave him responsibilities in places like Majuli, which is the heart of Vaishnav culture," he claimed.
Borah, however, did not speak on the occasion.
He had resigned from the Congress on Monday, but the party's top leadership did not accept his resignation, making attempts to persuade him to take it back. Following this, he sought time to reconsider his decision, amid which Sarma met him and made the announcement.
