Bhupen Kumar Borah, president of the Congress-led forum of the Opposition parties
Credit: X/@BhupenKBorah
Guwahati: In what is seen as a setback to unity of the Opposition parties in Assam, Bhupen Kumar Borah, president of the Congress-led forum of the Opposition parties resigned on Wednesday amid a stalemate over seat sharing for next month's by-polls for five Assembly seats.
Borah, who is also president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC), resigned citing "tremendous pressure" for taking a decision about giving tickets for one of the five Assembly seats to a CPI-ML candidate in Behali constituency.
By-polls for five Assembly constituencies, Behali, Sidli, Samaguri, Bongaigaon and Dhalai are scheduled on November 13. The seats fell vacant after the MLAs elected in 2021 were elected as Lok Sabha members.
While Congress has named four candidates, the forum of the opposition parties sought the Behali seat for CPI-ML candidate Bibek Das. The AICC on October 18 formed a five-member committee headed by Borah, which recommended the candidature for Das.
In his letter to the secretary of the forum, Lurinjyoti Gogoi, Borah said even as the AICC did not accept the recommendation of the five-member committee (Das as the candidate), the forum served an ultimatum to the APCC to make a decision by 10am on Wednesday.
"I have been trying to persuade the five-member committee to reconsider the recommendation but they have refused to do so and are demanding immediate confirmation from the AICC. Under the tremendous pressure on me to take the decision enforced, which I am not able to execute, I have no alternative other than tendering my resignation as President of the opposition unity in Assam," Borah said in his letter.
Sources said the AICC is in favour of fielding its own candidate in Behali too.
Reacting to the development, Lurinjyoti Gogoi said the forum is ready to change the candidate for Congress' approval. "We have sought only one ticket out of the five. It is very important to have a seat sharing arrangement among the Opposition parties as we have already decided to contest the Assembly elections in 2026 together to unseat BJP."
This is seen as a setback for opposition unity in Assam as the forum led by Congress had contested the Lok Sabha elections together. Congress candidates had won in three out of 14 Lok Sabha seats. The forum supported Lurinjyoti Gogoi, chief of Asom Jatiya Parishad, a regional party, in the Dibrugarh Lok Sabha seat, where he lost against union minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Leaders of the forum said conflict among the partners ahead of the by-polls will drive home a wrong message to supporters and voters ahead of the 2026 polls.