Guwahati: Former Congress MP from Nagaon Pradyut Bordoloi donned saffron colours in New Delhi on Wednesday in the presence of Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and state BJP president Dilip Saikia.Bordoloi resigned from Congress on Tuesday night, ending a three-decade association with the party, citing humiliation and being sidelined since 2022 when he supported Shashi Tharoor’s candidature in the AICC presidential election.
Later, Sarma accompanied Bordoloi to the office of the Union home minister Amit Shah where the two leaders held discussions.“The chief minister’s vision to work for Assam and his positive thinking to take the state forward have drawn me to join BJP. For the last two years, I have been facing humiliation and feeling isolated within Congress. While joining BJP, I have made it clear that I will continue to work with my head held high for the sake of the Assamese people,” Bordoloi said.Bordoloi was chairman of the Congress manifesto committee for the coming assembly election. Sarma said, “BJP national president Nitin Nabin approved Bordoloi’s joining on Tuesday. Our state president Dilip Saikia has welcomed him to the party.”Sarma added the party will recommend a ticket for Bordoloi in the upcoming polls. Asked if Bordoloi will be fielded as the BJP candidate in the upcoming assembly polls in Assam, Sarma said the state unit of the party will recommend his name for the election.“Bordoloi is a sitting Congress MP and he still has three years of his tenure left. Since he is himself coming (to BJP), quitting as an MP. Obviously, he has to quit as an MP because of the anti-defection law. So, the party has to take care of him,” the CM Sarma told the media.BJP’s central election committee, headed by party chief Nabin Kumar, is set to meet on Wednesday evening to discuss and decide the party candidates for assembly polls in Assam and Puducherry.Congress termed his exit “unfortunate.” Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, “I think he was upset over ticket allocation, and I wish we had a chance to have a conversation; it is unfortunate.”A two-term MP from Nagaon and a former four-time MLA, Bordoloi was a cabinet minister in the Traun Gogoi-led Cong govt in the state.Soon after Bordoloi sent his resignation letter to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday evening, state PCC chief Gaurav Gogoi and AICC general secretary in-charge of Assam Jitendra Singh rushed to meet Bordoloi at his New Delhi residence, 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.In his one-line resignation letter, Bordoloi said, “With an overwhelming sense of sadness today, I hereby tender my resignation from all posts, privileges and the primary membership of the Indian National Congress.”
