Assam Elections 2026: Ahead of the crucial assembly elections, senior Congress leader and Member of Parliament, Pradyut Bordoloi, joined the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), prolonging the list of turncoats in the ruling party. Bordoloi said his decision was driven by persistent internal humiliation and a lack of support from the party leadership, referring to a specific Assam Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting.
What Bordoloi Brought To The Table
Bordoloi, who signed the joining letter in the presence of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Assam BJP president Dilip Saikia, is ironically the chairman of the Congress Manifesto Committee for the 2026 elections. Bordoloi, Lok Sabha MP from Nagaon, a four-time MLA from Margherita (1998–2016) and a former Cabinet Minister, has a strong base in central-upper Assam and the tea belt region.
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How Congress Unwillingly Boosted BJP's Electoral Fortune
The BJP's electoral fortune has been shining in Assam since Himanta's switching to the rival BJP in August 2015. In the last decade, the electoral strength shifted from Congress to the BJP. Himanta, a close aide of late Congress stalwart Tarun Gogoi, changed the state political landscape and set the BJP on an unprecedented winning track in the northeastern state. Himanta's popularity led the BJP to win its first assembly election in 2016, jumping to 86 from 27 seats. He has been the architect of the BJP's historic victory in the elections held since 2016.
Just one month after Himanta joined the BJP, 9 Congress MLAs - Bolin Chetia (Sadiya), Pijush Hazarika (Roha), Kripanath Mallah (Ratabari), Abu Taher Bepari (Golakganj), Binanda Saikia (Sipajhar), Pradan Barua (Jonai), Pallab Lochan Das (Behali), Rajen Borthakur (Tezpur), and Jayanta Mallah Barua (Nalbari) entered the saffron party. As a result, the BJP won the next elections in 2016. It was Himanta's popularity that convinced the BJP leadership to back him for the top job in the state. The saffron party picked him for the chief minister post, following a landslide victory in the Assam elections 2021.
Former Congress President Switched To The BJP
Just one month ago, Bhupen Kumar Borah, former Assam Congress president, joined the BJP, giving a big blow to Congress, which lost several key leaders to the ruling party, saying Tarun Gogoi's son and Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi humiliated him over alliance talks. Along with him, former Congress leaders Sanju Bora, Rajesh Kumar Joshi, Kangkan Das, Gagan Chandra Bora and more than a dozen other workers, too, joined the ruling party.
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After Bhupen Borah, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) Vice-president Navajyoti Talukdar followed suit. In his resignation letter sent to party president Mallikarjun Kharge, he alleged a lack of coordination and failure in addressing concerns despite repeated efforts from his side.
In January 2024, a key Congress leader Dr Angkita Dutta, joined the BJP, alleging that the party's youth wing president --Srinivas BV-- harassed her. Angkita, the former chief of Assam Pradesh Youth Congress, further damaged the Congress, saying that women are not safe in the grand old party.
Meanwhile, the elections in Assam for all 126 constituencies will be held in a single phase on April 9, while the counting of votes is scheduled for May 4, the Election Commission of India announced on Sunday.