‘Felt humiliated and suffocated’ | After joining BJP, Pradyut Bordoloi slams Congress

A day after he quit the Congress, Lok Sabha MP from Assam, Pradyut Bordoloi, on Wednesday joined the BJP in the presence of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and other saffron party leaders in New Delhi. He was formally inducted into the BJP by its state president Dilip Saikia, who presented him with a stole and party cap. A Congress member for more than five decades, Bordoloi claimed that he was facing humiliation in the party for the last two years, which led him to resign. He also said that positive work being done by the BJP-led state government made him choose the saffron party. “BJP national president Nitin Nabin approved sitting Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi's joining on Tuesday. Our state president Dilip Saikia has welcomed him to the party,” Sarma told reporters in the national capital after a brief ceremony.

A Congressman since 1975, Bordoloi's joining will strengthen the BJP and help translate into reality Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for a ‘Viksit Bharat, Viksit Assam’, the CM added. Sarma said that the state party leadership will recommend a ticket for him for the April 9 assembly polls. A two-term MP and four-time MLA, who was also an Assam cabinet minister, Bordoloi had sent his resignation letter to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday evening. He was also the chairman of the Congress manifesto committee for the Assam assembly elections.

State Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi and AICC general secretary in-charge of Assam Jitendra Singh had rushed to meet Bordoloi late on Tuesday evening, but apparently could not convince him to reverse his decision. Bordoloi’s son Prateek is a Congress nominee from Margherita constituency for the state polls. Sarma claimed that “no individual with self-respect can any longer stay in the Congress”, with Bordoloi being the latest one to quit the party. Others, like leader of opposition in the state assembly, Debabrata Saikia, and former Assam Congress chief and ex-MP Ripun Bora, will also join the BJP in due course, the CM said.

Former state Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah had resigned and joined the BJP in February. “We want to bring the Congress leaders, who are assets, to the BJP. The process started in 2016, and 99 per cent of it has been completed,” Sarma said. He also said, "A lot of Muslim leaders also want to join the saffron party, but they cannot due to ideological issues”.

The CM further said that several other Congress leaders will join the BJP in Guwahati over the next few days, and Bordoloi’s joining came before the finalisation of the party’s candidate list later on Tuesday.

Bordoloi, speaking to reporters on the occasion, said, “The chief minister’s vision to work for Assam and his positive thinking to take the state forward have drawn me to join the BJP.”

“For the last two years, I have been facing humiliation and feeling isolated within the Congress. While joining the BJP, I have made it clear that I will continue to work with my head held high for the sake of the Assamese people,” he added.