Gaurav Gogoi just face of Assam Congress, Rakibul Hussain its ‘sole base’: Bhupen Borah

Former Assam Congress president Bhupen Borah, who is set to join the BJP, on Wednesday (February 18, 2026) claimed that the Opposition party’s state unit is no longer under the control of Gaurav Gogoi, and Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain is its “sole base”.

In an interview with PTI, Mr. Borah claimed Mr. Gogoi, the state Congress president, is just “the mere face of the party now”.

“Rakibul Hussain, who had won the Dhubri seat by over 10 lakh votes, is the sole base of the party,” he claimed.

Mr. Borah said that after he sent his resignation letter to the Congress high command on Monday (February 16, 2026), Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi called him and spoke at length about the “relationship we shared since 2007”.

“He mentioned how we helped the party grow, and he helped me over the years, which is true, but he did not say a word about my resignation letter,” he claimed.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that Mr. Borah would be joining the BJP on February 22, after meeting him at his residence on Tuesday evening (February 17, 2026).