Two senior former Congress leaders who quit the party in quick succession have been handed BJP tickets as the party released its candidate list for the 2026 Assam Legislative Assembly elections on March 19. Bhupen Kumar Borah, a two-term MLA and former Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president (2021–2025), will contest from Bihpuria in Lakhimpur, while Pradyut Bordoloi, the sitting Lok Sabha MP from Nagaon, has been fielded from Dispur.
Borah, who spent more than three decades in the Congress, said he left because of growing neglect and internal conflict, alleging his concerns about the party’s functioning in Assam were repeatedly ignored. He claimed the state unit had been effectively taken over by Rakibul Hussain, sidelining several senior leaders, including himself. Borah formally joined the BJP in February and was welcomed by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who quipped: “We joined the Congress party together. I left sooner.”
Bordoloi resigned from the Congress on March 17 and joined the BJP on March 18. A Congress member for over five decades, he said he had faced humiliation and isolation within the party for the past two years and pointed to the growing influence of Uttar Pradesh leader Imran Masood in Assam Congress affairs as a factor in his decision. Bordoloi said he was quitting “not only for self-respect but also to work in the larger interest of Assam.” By switching parties he forfeited the remaining three and a half years of his parliamentary tenure.
The back-to-back defections have raised fresh questions about Congress’s organisational stability in Assam. Bordoloi’s exit cost the party one of its only three Lok Sabha MPs from the state. Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi sought to downplay the damage, saying a disagreement over a single seat was not reason enough to abandon a party, while Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia described the moves as “very unfortunate.”
The two departures fit a pattern the chief minister has long encouraged: Sarma has said the BJP’s effort to absorb Congress leaders began in 2016 and is now “99 per cent complete,” and on Wednesday he predicted further crossovers were likely. Beyond the high-profile recruits, the BJP’s list covers constituencies across Lower, Central and Upper Assam, including Rangia, Palasbari, Guwahati Central, Nagaon, Mangaldai, Dhemaji and Tinsukia.
Sarma will defend Jalukbari, and senior ministers Chandramohan Patowary, Ranjeet Kumar Dass and Pijush Hazarika retain their seats. Several reserved tribal constituencies — notably Tamulpur, Dudhnai and Dhemaji — are expected to be closely contested. Assam’s 126 assembly seats will be voted in a single phase on April 9, with counting set for May 4. The BJP is seeking a third consecutive term under Sarma, while Congress must now regroup after losing two of its most recognisable faces within a month.
Original Source: https://www.indiatodayne.in/assam/story/congress-defectors-bhupen-borah-pradyut-bordoloi-get-bjp-tickets-in-assam-2026-poll-list-1362036-2026-03-19?utm_source=rssfeed
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Publish Date: 2026-03-19 12:24:00
