The twin developments have exposed growing cracks within the Congress party in minority-dominated pockets of Western and Central Assam
Assam Congress suffered a double blow ahead of the Assam Assembly elections next year, after former MLA Abu Taher Bepari quit the party and joined the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), and over 300 Congress workers from Samaguri, a key minority-dominated constituency for the party, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Former Golakganj MLA, Abu Taher Bepari, who was expelled from Congress for alleged anti-party activities, was formally inducted into AIUDF in the presence of party chief Badruddin Ajmal. A two-time Congress MLA (he won the Golakganj seat in 2006 and 2011), Bepari had rebelled against the party after being denied a ticket in the 2021 Assembly elections and had contested as an independent candidate.
AIUDF sources indicated that Bepari is likely to be fielded from Golakganj in the upcoming polls.
In another setback for Congress, more than 300 party workers, including booth-level functionaries and minority leaders, joined the BJP in Samaguri, considered a stronghold of Congress MP and former Assam Cabinet Minister Rockybul Hussain.
The defectors accused Congress of intimidating minority voters and alleged misuse of the administration, while praising the BJP’s slogan of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas.”
The twin developments have exposed growing cracks within the Congress party in minority-dominated pockets of Western and Central Assam, even as the BJP and AIUDF seek to consolidate their political footprint ahead of the 2026 Assam Assembly elections.
