Pradyut Bordoloi interview: ‘Had to plead for my LS seat, felt humiliated … There’s been a steady trust deficit since Gaurav Gogoi took charge’ | Political Pulse News

My association with the Congress is longer. I was 16 when I became a member of the NSUI (Congress’s student wing) … I am a first-generation politician and received many opportunities to grow in the party. I won four times as MLA and served as a Cabinet Minister for 15 years. I am also a two-time MP.

However, of late, things have not been the same … I supported Shashi Tharoor (in the Congress presidential polls) because I thought elections are necessary in the organisation. I travelled with him in the north-eastern states to campaign for him … I must say Mallikarjun Kharge, who became the president, never held any grudge, but others, I felt, were not the same. I felt I was systematically shunted out. My juniors were appointed to the screening committees for poll-bound states and they were included as invitees in the CWC. My name never came up for consideration for anything.

Though in 2019 I won the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat that the Congress had not won for 35 years, in 2024 I had to run pillar to post to get renominated. Because some parts of Gaurav Gogoi’s Kaliabor constituency went to Nagaon, he wanted to contest from mine. Later, Rakibul Hussain also wanted it. I felt deeply hurt. Sonia Gandhi’s intervention got me my seat. But the fact that I had to go to every leader, including K C Venugopal, and plead made me feel humiliated.

After Gogoi took over as the president of Assam Congress, there has been a steady trust deficit. I was kept out of all decision-making and I was feeling isolated. Then those who were responsible for an attack on my convoy were felicitated by local MLA Asif Nazar of Laharighat and Gogoi. To my horror, Gogoi went on to share the dais with him the next day despite my complaints. They want to renominate the MLA despite the evidence I provided against him. I came to know that during the Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting, Imraan Masood, who is a very communal leader and refuses to sing Vande Mataram at Congress meetings, dismissed my complaints as fabricated. The state Congress chief was at the meeting but did not defend me.

Did you get in touch with either Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi Vadra?

Frankly speaking, I never went to Rahul Gandhi. Priyanka Gandhi is the chairperson of the screening committee. I submitted all the evidence. She was sympathetic, but I do not know what happened after that.

Before he left the Congress, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma had also alleged that the party leadership had sidelined him. Is there a pattern?

If I say anything on this, I will sound like a crybaby. The fact is that I felt humiliated.

What is your assessment of how Gogoi has led the state Congress till now?

I must say he is meritorious. He is an excellent orator. But he is not taking everyone along. He is not a team person and is a bad organiser.

The Nagaon constituency has a considerable Muslim population. Now that you are in a party that says we don’t need Muslim support in elections, will that have an impact?

I have neither supported nor indulged in sectarian politics ever. I will obviously not divide people based on religion, caste, or creed. I will never pursue this kind of politics. If anyone says it, I will not subscribe to it.

But the CM has made several comments about the minority community that the Opposition has criticised for being polarising.

He (Sarma) must be making these comments for a particular reason. He is a highly political person. I know that he is capable. What is important in my mind is that we can work wonders because Assam has come out of a crisis period. He is doing a lot of things. We can do a good jugalbandi to take the state forward.

* Are welfare schemes and infrastructure development enough to dilute the impact of divisive rhetoric from the ruling party?

The CM is an excellent organiser and has tremendous energy. He can play a very important role. I will be working with him. Maybe in a very subtle manner, privately, I can point out that you cannot do it. Maybe it’s my job.

You had chaired the committee that released a 20-point chargesheet accusing the BJP of corruption, illegal accumulation of wealth by the CM, and fostering fear among minorities.

It was a collective decision. And we have curated and articulated some of the allegations the Opposition had raised in the past … It will be difficult for me to justify it, obviously. But I guess we can dilute it.

Bhupen Borah, who has also switched from the Congress to the BJP, has accused Rakibul Hussain of controlling the party on his terms. Does that allegation hold water?

I know Rakibul’s modus operandi. He tries to fish in troubled waters. So, his style of politics may not have gone down well with many leaders.

Do your and Borah’s exits confirm what the CM said about the Congress, that it is a party where Hindu leaders cannot stay?

History will say that. Just that the reasons for which we were being sidelined are unfortunate.

The Congress fielded your son, Prateek, from Margherita. But he has chosen to withdraw his candidacy, while remaining a Congress leader. Is that a deliberate strategy?

When I became an MLA for the first time, my son was just three years old. He grew up in a Congress family. My wife and I always encouraged our son to think independently. We never let them feel privileged because of power. We did not allow him to travel in my official vehicle, despite the threats against my family by ULFA.

He is well-educated and has a mind of his own. He started working in my old constituency to reconstruct the Congress. When I joined the BJP, I told him it should not influence him or his decisions. I told him I would respect his decision.