Guwahati, Feb 19: Former Assam Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah has disclosed details of a conversation with senior party leader Rahul Gandhi that he said influenced his decision to leave the Congress ahead of the Assam Assembly elections.
Borah resigned from the party on February 16, a move seen as a setback for the Congress in the run-up to the polls in the 126-member Assembly scheduled for March–April. Speaking about the exchange, Borah said he had conveyed to Rahul Gandhi that he felt humiliated within the party. According to him, Gandhi responded by saying that he too felt humiliated. Borah said he questioned the value of his own humiliation in that context and added that he did not have the capacity to endure such treatment.
Meanwhile, state Congress president Gaurav Gogoi alleged that Borah had accepted Rs 50 crore from Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to defect. Borah strongly denied the allegation and said that if such an offer were ever made, he would accept it openly in front of the media.
Linking the figure to a personal aspiration, Borah said his late father had dreamt of building a stadium on 12 bighas of reserved land before his death in 2019. He stated that fulfilling that vision remained close to his heart and remarked that Rs 50 crore would not be sufficient to construct a state-of-the-art stadium, but he would accept the amount and begin the work if it were offered.
The developments have added a new dimension to the political churn in Assam as parties gear up for the upcoming Assembly elections.
