Lahorighat ticket row: Pradyut Bordoloi threatens to quit Congress, heads to Delhi

Guwahati, Mar 16: Amid growing internal tensions within the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC), Nagaon MP Pradyut Bordoloi on Sunday warned that he may leave the party if the Lahorighat Assembly constituency is allotted to MLA Dr. Asif Nazar.

Bordoloi has written to Jitendra Singh, General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in charge of Assam, expressing his concerns. On Monday, he reportedly rushed to New Delhi to discuss the issue with the party leadership.

In the letter, Bordoloi reportedly referred to an alleged attack on him in April last year.

“To briefly explain, on April 27, 2025, a life-threatening attack was carried out on me in the Dumdumia area. The Nagaon Police conducted a suo motu investigation and arrested a notorious criminal from Lahorighat, Emdadul Islam, and filed a chargesheet against him. He is widely known to be a close associate of Lahorighat MLA Dr. Asif Nazar,” the letter stated.

According to Bordoloi, Dr Nazar gave a “hero’s welcome” to Emdadul Islam upon his release from jail.

“Dr. Asif Nazar not only took the same criminal to the residence of the APCC president but also arranged a formal felicitation for chargesheeted accused Emdadul Islam by Shri Gaurav Gogoi on January 11, 2026,” the letter alleged.

Bordoloi said he had protested the move and urged Gogoi not to endorse Dr. Nazar’s alleged association with the accused.

The Nagaon MP further claimed that he had presented evidence of Emdadul’s alleged criminal links before Priyanka Gandhi, chairperson of the party’s screening committee, opposing the proposal to renominate Dr. Nazar as the Congress candidate from Lahorighat in the upcoming elections.

Bordoloi also alleged that during a meeting of the Congress Central Election Committee in New Delhi on March 13, screening committee member and Uttar Pradesh MP Imran Masood publicly stated that the allegations and evidence presented against Dr. Nazar were false and fabricated.

“Although I was not present in that meeting, such remarks made about me in front of the party’s highest leadership caused me deep humiliation. In that situation, APCC president Shri Gaurav Gogoi remained completely silent and did not present the information that I had previously shared with him,” Bordoloi wrote.

He added that he would once again present evidence before the Congress high command to ensure appropriate action.

“Even in the face of such reactionary attitudes from the state leadership, I will continue to fight until the end to protect my personal dignity and honour,” the letter stated.

Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the development reflected his earlier prediction that Bordoloi might not remain in the Congress for long.

“I had already predicted this. I knew he would not be able to stay in the party for long because the individuals who allegedly tried to murder him were welcomed with a Gamosa by the APCC chief. I have worked with him for fifteen years and he has self-respect. Many people ignore self-respect and stay in the party, but one day they will not be able to continue and will leave. Pradyut Bordoloi will leave the party by 2029,” Sarma said during a press briefing in Guwahati, on Sunday evening.