Congress says Pradyut Bordoloi’s exit ‘unfortunate’, accuses BJP of poaching its leaders

The resignation of Assam MP Pradyut Bordoloi from the Congress, who then joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, was “unfortunate”, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Tuesday (March 17, 2026), adding that differences over ticket allocation may have triggered his exit.

However, responding to a question on a string of defections from the Congress to the BJP, she remarked “ideology also matters”.

“I think he was upset over ticket allocation, and I wish we had a chance to have a conversation; it is unfortunate,” Ms. Vadra, who heads the party’s screening committee for the Assam Assembly election, told reporters in the Parliament complex.

Mr. Bordoloi, who headed the Congress manifesto committee for the upcoming polls, quit the party late on Tuesday and joined the BJP.

His exit came weeks after former Assam Congress chief Bhupen Borah abandoned the Congress and joined the BJP.

Dealing with a fresh setback in poll-bound Assam, the Congress’ responses ranged from outrage over “betrayal” to accusing the BJP of poaching its leaders.

“Pradyut’s betrayal is not just political—it is moral. Elected on the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, he chose the path of Godse’s ideology. Nagaon gave him its trust through Congress—he has repaid it with deceit. He must resign,” Congress MP Manickam Tagore said in a post on X.

“A traitor who switches sides in the middle of the battlefield cannot escape the judgment of the people,” Mr. Tagore added.

Rajya Sabha MP and Congress Working Committee member Syed Naseer Hussain said the BJP was “stealing their leaders”.

“They don’t have people of their own, good articulate people. That’s why they are stealing our people,” Mr. Hussain told reporters in the Parliament complex.