Borah took back his decision after the intervention of the Congress high command. Hours after submitting his resignation, former Assam Congress chief Bhupen Borah has sought time to reconsider his decision of quitting the party. Meanwhile, Assam Congress in-charge Jitendra Singh, while speaking to reporters on Monday, claimed that Borah (55) has withdrawn his resignation after the intervention of the Congress high command.
Assam Congress unit president Gaurav Gogoi said that Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi spoke to Borah following his resignation. Borah’s resignation was not accepted by the Congress high command. While tendering his resignation, the former Assam Congress chief had said he would continue to be in active politics. “I have submitted my resignation from the Congress at 8am on Monday. I will wait for the party high command’s response before commenting further. I wish to reiterate that I will continue to be in active politics,” Borah told mediapersons outside his residence in Guwahati.
He further stated that he had been an “active and dedicated worker” of the Congress party for 32 years, adding that “certain circumstances” which had emerged in the past few days had made him decide on resigning from the party. “I have not decided yet on what course to take in future,” he clarified earlier today. Borah’s resignation came at a crucial juncture, with Assam scheduled to hold assembly elections between March-April this year. The dates have not yet been announced by the Election Commission of India.
Borah had been replaced as Congress’s Assam unit president in May last year, with Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi taking over the role. Responding to Borah’s resignation earlier today, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that this was expected the day he was replaced as the state Congress president by Gogoi.
“It has become clear that to survive in Assam Congress one has to have an illustrious father or be a member of the minority community. Since Borah was neither he was getting sidelined while Gaurav Gogoi and Rakibul Hussain were getting stronger,” Sarma said. The Assam CM had said that while he was not in touch with Borah prior to his resignation, he would meet him on Tuesday and discuss future prospects.
