Former Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bhupen Kumar Borah joined the ruling BJP at the party’s state headquarters in Guwahati on Sunday morning, marking one of the most high-profile defections from the Congress ahead of the March–April Assembly polls.

Soon after joining, Borah was appointed an executive committee member of the BJP’s state unit, signalling the importance the party has placed on his induction.

Borah, 56, a two-time former Congress MLA who spent 32 years in the party and held several senior organisational posts in the AICC, PCC and the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government, resigned from the Congress on February 16 citing “differences” with incumbent Assam PCC president Gaurav Gogoi. His shift to the BJP comes barely weeks before the election process is set to begin.

He was welcomed by state BJP president Dilip Saikia, who said Borah’s “vast organisational expertise and long political experience” would significantly strengthen the party. Borah said his decision to join the BJP was driven by a “spirit of service” and praised the “unprecedented development achieved in the state under the leadership of chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma”, adding that he was committed to contributing to the “successful realisation of the BJP’s goals”.

Borah had earlier said it had become difficult to remain in the Congress “out of self-respect”, claiming that his repeated appeals to the AICC leadership to review the functioning of the PCC drew no response. He predicted that several more Congress leaders would join the BJP in the coming days.

In a post on X, state BJP president Saikia wrote that the party family had grown with “500+ individuals across various parties and organisations” joining the BJP at the state office, including Borah and former Congress general secretary Sanju Baruah. He said the new members were inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Sarma and had pledged to serve the nation with dedication.

Baruah and Sankor Jyoti Baruah, a former AASU leader who also joined on Sunday, were appointed BJP media panellists.

Chief minister Sarma, who had on February 17 revealed that Borah would join the BJP, retweeted Saikia’s post and said the BJP under Narendra Modi’s leadership had “emerged as the preferred platform for those who want to serve the nation”. Later, speaking at Vajpayee Bhawan, Sarma said he was looking forward to working with Borah and “moving beyond past differences”.

The joining ceremony was attended by BJP national vice-president and Assembly election in-charge Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda, state in-charge Harish Dwivedi, organisational general secretary G.R. Ravindra Raju, Assembly election management committee convenor and MP Pradan Baruah, and cabinet minister Jayanta Malla Baruah, among others.

The Congress, however, appeared unfazed by Borah’s exit. Several senior PCC leaders said they were aware he had been planning to leave for months. Even AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, chairperson of the screening committee for the state polls, said party-hopping before elections was “nothing new”. Both AICC and PCC leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, had urged Borah to reconsider his decision, but he declined.

However, several Congress leaders privately said the party brass must take a “close look” at the performance of AICC in-charge Jitendra Singh and take “appropriate corrective steps”. One leader said the high command must assess whether the party’s organisational strength had improved under Singh’s watch and address concerns “before Assam goes the way of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal, where we are struggling”.