Former Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bhupen Kumar Borah on Tuesday hinted that his leaving the Congress was all but certain, saying that a meeting with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was scheduled at his residence in the evening. Speaking to media persons at his Ghoramara residence in Guwahati, Borah, who had tendered his resignation from the party on Monday, only to be requested hours alter by the Congress high command to reconsider his quit letter, said he has shared close ties with the Assam Chief Minister since the early 1990s and thereafter were in politics together in the Congress. “I fact, we had also taken part in an inter-college debate back in 1993. The Chief Minister had then represented Cotton College, and I had represented Lakhimpur College. We also visited each other’s residences. So, I have shared close ties with him over a long period of time,” the veteran politician, who has been in Congress for 32 years, said.
In a veiled dig at Dhubri MP and Congress leader Rakibul Hussain, Borah said that “the Assam PCC was now APCC (R) and not just APCC. While I would have remained in APCC, I cannot remain in APCC (R). From deciding who would be the CLP leader to the APCC president, or even tickets for seats such as Duliajan and Nowboicha, there is one leader in the party who has had a say.” Notably, the Chief Minister has said that her would welcome Borah to the BJP if the latter wished to join. “He would be given a safe seat to contest the upcoming Assembly elections as well,” Sarma had said on Monday. Borah had on Monday morning submitted his resignation to the AICC, only to seek some time to reconsider decision, hours after the AICC high command “refused to accept” his resignation and urged him to stay in the party.
Addressing media persons at Borah’s residence here after a marathon meeting with the veteran Congress leader, AICC leader and Assam in-charge, Jitendra Singh said the party high command has not accepted Borah’s resignation letter. “In this regard, the party leadership, including Rahul Gandhi, as well as the senior leaders in the APCC, have had a discussion with Bhupen Borah. We in the Congress are like a family and if there is any difference of opinion within the family, we ensure that such differences are ironed out,” Singh said.
Notably, Singh, along with a party delegation comprising Assam PCC chief Gaurav Gogoi, and senior party leaders, Debabrata Saikia, Pradyot Bordoloi and Ripun Bora, had visited Borah’s residence in a bid to persuade him to reconsider his decision, which has come at a crucial time when there are less than two months left for the Assembly elections. Borah, in his address to the media, said, “Since the party leadership has urged me to reconsider my resignation from the party, I have decided to take some time to arrive at a final decision. I also need to discuss the matter with my family members and will let the party leadership know as soon as I make the decision.”
