Former Assam Congress chief Bhupen Borah, who resigned from the party on February 16, confirmed on Tuesday that he will join the Bharatiya Janata Party, The Indian Express reported.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who visited Borah’s home on Tuesday, said that he will join the BJP on February 22, The Hindu reported. The chief minister said that the BJP will field Borah in the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.

Assam is expected to head for Assembly elections in April or May.

Sarma described Borah as the “last recognised Hindu leader” in the Congress. “His joining will completely create a perception, which is a reality too, that the Congress is no longer a party of Assamese mainstream people,” The Indian Express quoted the chief minister as saying.

Sarma said that when a leader quits the party after working for it for 32 years, the party should look into the reasons for it. “The problem with the Congress is that it does not address such issues,” he added.

The chief minister recalled that he and Borah had joined the Congress around the same period in the early 1990s. Sarma left the Congress in 2015, and subsequently joined the BJP.

After Borah submitted his resignation to the Congress leadership on Monday, senior leaders, including Rahul Gandhi tried to convince him to change his decision. The former Assam Congress chief had sought time till Tuesday to reconsider his exit, but eventually maintained his decision.

Borah claimed on Tuesday that decision-making in the Assam Congress had been concentrated in the hands of Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain, The Indian Express reported.

“The APCC [Assam Pradesh Congress Committee] is now APCC-R, which is difficult for me,” he was quoted as saying. “I want to be part of APCC, but not APCC-R. It’s like a faction of a party.”

He claimed that Hussain was responsible for the Congress’ alliance with the All India United Democratic Front in 2021. He also questioned the Congress’ decision to field Hussain’s son Tanzil for the bye-election to the Samaguri seat in November 2024, according to The Indian Express.

The Congress lost the Muslim-majority seat to the BJP’s Diplu Ranjan Sarmah.

In his resignation letter, Borah claimed that he had been ignored by the party leadership, and that he was concerned about the party’s future.

Borah was the president of the Congress’ Assam unit between 2021 and 2025. He was replaced by Gaurav Gogoi in June.

Borah had been tasked, just days earlier, with taking forward talks for a proposed alliance against the BJP, involving parties such as the Raijor Dol, the Asom Jatiyo Parishad, the All Party Hill Leaders Conference, the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist).