What’s value of my humiliation when Rahul Gandhi says he too feels humiliated: Bhupen Borah

Former Assam Congress president Bhupen Borah, who is set to join the BJP, said on Thursday that when he raised the issue of his humiliation in the party with Rahul Gandhi, he was told by him that he too feels humiliated.
Borah, who resigned on Monday in a setback for the Congress ahead of the assembly polls, said he cannot tolerate such humiliation. “I had told Rahul Gandhi that I am feeling humiliated in the party, and then he said that he was also feeling humiliated. Then what is the value of my humiliation? I cannot tolerate such humiliation as I do not have so much capacity,” Borah told PTI-Video, recalling the conversation he had with the senior leader who had called him after he resigned.
Asked about state Congress president Gaurav Gogoi’s allegation that he has taken Rs 50 crore from Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to join the BJP, Borah said that if offered the money, he would take it in front of the press.
“My father had a dream of building a stadium, and had reserved 12 bighas of land for the purpose. I, however, could not fulfil his wish even when I was the MLA for two terms. He died in 2019,” he said.
“This wish of my father is in my heart, but to build a state-of-the-art stadium, Rs 50 crore will not be enough. But I will accept it and start the work,” he added.
On Sarma visiting his house a day after his resignation, Borah said that they had been in the Congress for 22 years and “I continued for another 10 years”. “Sarma is the most influential leader of the Northeast after the late PA Sangma, and when he called me to say that he would come to my house, I welcomed him,” he said.
“The CM said he had talked to his party’s central leaders and then invited me to join the BJP. I am not anywhere now after my resignation, and so agreed to join,” he added. Borah, who is set to join the BJP on February 22, reiterated that he did not discuss any political issues with the CM during that day’s meeting.
He alleged that Gogoi had broken the opposition alliance, which he had stitched together a few years back, as he feared that if the “opposition came to power in the state by chance, then he may not become the chief minister”.
“When I was given the responsibility to take the alliance forward once again on February 9, then what was the point of including Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain in the talks?” he asked.
“Gogoi perhaps felt that if the alliance takes place, then Bhupen Borah will do everything amicably and put it forth before Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, threatening his existence,” he claimed. Borah said the alliance will, however, take place with around 12 seats each going to the Raijor Dal and Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), one each to CPI(M), CPI and the All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC), with the Congress contesting the rest.
The 126-member assembly is expected to go to the polls in March-April.
Vadra, the chairperson of the Congress screening committee for the upcoming assembly elections, arrived here earlier in the day on a two-day visit, during which she would hold a series of meetings to finalise the party’s list of candidates.
Borah alleged that Nagaon MP Pradyut Bordoloi and the Leader of Opposition in the assembly, Debabrata Saikia, were also humiliated in the party, but now Gogoi will “try to heal their wounds”.
“Now that Bhupen Borah is out and a pillar of the opposition is gone, Gogoi will try to keep the other pillars intact,” he said.
Borah said that when he took over as the state Congress president in 2021, the situation was very grim, with the party losing two consecutive assembly elections.
“It was then that I took the initiative to build an alliance of 16 opposition parties, both big and small,” he said.