One thing is clear: As politicians, we should realise that we are elected by our voters to represent them with dignity and sincerity and not to sell their votes as a negotiator waiting for the highest leverage point,” Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh said. File
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Assam Congress is wary of the possible impact of losing one of its three MPs from the State to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a month after its former State president Bhupen Kumar Borah jumped ship.
Pradyut Bordoloi, who represented the grand old party from central Assam’s Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency, joined the BJP in New Delhi on Wednesday in the presence of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and State BJP president Dilip Saikia.
Mr. Bordoloi was the chairman of the Congress’s Manifesto Committee for the April 9 Assembly polls in Assam.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, chairperson of the party’s Screening Committee for candidates for the upcoming elections, said the MP’s resignation was unfortunate. “I think he was upset over one ticket allocation. I wish we had a chance for a conversation,” she said.
However, senior Congress leaders indicated Mr. Bordoloi had been planning to don saffron for a long time. Jitendra Singh, AICC secretary in charge of Assam, pointed out that the candidate Mr. Bordoloi objected to did not figure in any of the two lists released by the party so far.
“This means we were considering Pradyut Bordoloiji’s recommendations. I have spoken to him on this a couple of times, and he knew my stand. One thing is clear: As politicians, we should realise that we are elected by our voters to represent them with dignity and sincerity and not to sell their votes as a negotiator waiting for the highest leverage point,” Mr. Singh posted on X.
In a letter to Mr. Singh a few days ago, Mr. Bordoloi threatened to quit if the party re-nominated MLA Asif Mohammad Nazar from the Laharighat constituency. The seat is part of the Muslim-majority Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency, which Mr. Bordoloi represents.
The MP said the MLA was linked to the leader of a group that had attacked his car in Nagaon in April 2025.
Blow before polls
Congress leaders in Assam have put up a brave front, insisting that a series of resignations was a boon in disguise. They accused the defectors of having been “BJP agents”.
A section within the party, however, said the resignations of Mr. Borah and Mr. Bordoloi in quick succession could affect the party’s morale as it heads to the polls. The Congress was on the ascendancy when its State president, Gaurav Gogoi, defied the odds — the BJP had gone all out to ensure his defeat — to win the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat in 2024.
Mr. Bordoloi said his decision to quit the Congress was not easy. “Congress made me, but I felt ignored and unwanted in the party in the last two years,” he said, hoping to work in the BJP with his head held high.
The Chief Minister said he understood Mr. Bordoloi’s pain. “He has made a huge sacrifice, with more than three years left as the MP from a seat the BJP cannot win,” he added, predicting that MLA Debabrata Saikia and former Minister Ripun Bora would quit the Congress after the elections.
Mr. Bordoloi’s resignation has put his son Prateek Bordoloi on a sticky wicket, as the Congress has fielded the latter from the Margherita Assembly seat in eastern Assam.
“He is an adult. I will honour whatever decision he takes,” the senior Bordoloi said.
Mr. Gogoi said he would talk to the junior Bordoloi to learn his position. “I will also await the decision of our central leadership on this seat,” he said.
Published – March 18, 2026 11:56 pm IST
