Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Assam Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi Defects to BJP Days Before Vote

The switch underscores Congress’s weakening hold in Assam ahead of the April 9 election.

Overview

  • Pradyut Bordoloi joined the BJP in New Delhi on March 18 in the presence of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and state chief Dilip Saikia, a day after submitting his resignation to Mallikarjun Kharge.
  • He said he felt humiliated and sidelined in Congress, pointing to disputes over the Laharighat ticket and claims that screening panel member Imran Masood dismissed his concerns as fabricated.
  • Sarma said the Assam BJP will recommend that Bordoloi be fielded as a candidate in the single‑phase Assembly polls on April 9.
  • Congress leaders called the exit unfortunate, with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra indicating ticket disagreements may have contributed, as the party continues to back his son Prateek in Margherita.
  • The defection reduces Congress’s Lok Sabha tally from Assam to two and prompts possible anti‑defection proceedings concerning Bordoloi’s seat subject to parliamentary process.