Dibrugarh: The resignation of senior Congress leader and Nagaon Lok Sabha MP Pradyut Bordoloi drew a measured but pointed response from Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Gaurav Gogoi on Wednesday, who called the development “unfortunate” while making it clear that the party’s mission to unseat Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma remains firmly on track.
Bordoloi, a sitting Member of Parliament from the Nagaon constituency, formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday, a day after tendering his resignation from the Indian National Congress.
Gogoi, who arrived at Dibrugarh Airport from Delhi, addressed reporters upon landing and struck a tone of both restraint and defiance.
“Just two years ago, the Congress party offered him the opportunity to contest the Lok Sabha ticket from Nagaon. He is a sitting Member of Parliament; the people of Nagaon voted for him. In the present election, the Congress party also offered an opportunity to a member of his family to contest the Vidhan Sabha elections. If our current Nagaon Lok Sabha Member of Parliament wants to continue Himanta Biswa Sarma as the Chief Minister, well, that is his decision, which is rather unfortunate,” Gogoi said.
However, Gogoi was emphatic that the exit of one leader would not derail the Congress’s momentum. “This election is much more important than one person. This election is about freeing Assam from the clutches of Himanta Biswa Sarma, freeing Assam from his politics of fear and intimidation, and from the mafia raj that has crept in during his tenure.”
Dismissing the defection as a routine internal difference rather than a structural blow to the party, Gogoi said intra-party disagreements were a natural feature of political life. “I don’t think one difference of opinion over one seat is a reason to leave a party and join the rival,” he stated.