Dibrugarh: In a major political development ahead of next year’s Assembly elections in Assam, former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Rajen Gohain on Thursday resigned from the party, accusing the leadership of betraying the state’s indigenous communities.
Seventeen other BJP members, mostly from Upper and Central Assam, also tendered their resignations.
Gohain, a four-time MP from Nagaon and former Minister of State for Railways, submitted his resignation letter to state BJP president Dilip Saikia, stepping down from all party posts with immediate effect.
In the letter, he expressed “deep disillusionment” with the party’s direction and its alleged failure to uphold promises made to the people of Assam.
“The BJP has not only failed to protect the interests of the indigenous Assamese people but has also encouraged outsiders to settle in the state, threatening our identity, land, and resources,” Gohain said, adding that the party had deviated from its core ideological commitments.
He also accused the state leadership of promoting communal politics and sidelining long-time workers who had built the party from the ground up.
“Those who toiled for decades to strengthen the BJP have been ignored, while newcomers and opportunists have been rewarded,” he alleged.
Gohain criticised the government for not granting Scheduled Tribe status to six indigenous communities and for its handling of the issue of illegal immigration.
“The government that once promised to rid Assam of illegal Bangladeshis is now allowing them to enter through new tactics,” he claimed.
The veteran leader also hit out at the state administration for promoting nepotism and adopting policies that, he said, were detrimental to local traders.
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“Local businesses are being suffocated with arbitrary rules while large business groups from outside the state are being favoured,” he said.
Gohain, who served as an MP from 1999 to 2019, was among the BJP’s early leaders in Assam and played a key role in expanding the party’s base in the state.
State BJP president Dilip Saikia, who was in Dibrugarh for a central committee meeting when the resignation was submitted, declined to comment on whether it had been accepted.
The mass resignations are seen as a setback for the BJP in the run-up to the 2026 Assembly elections, particularly in regions where Gohain continues to hold considerable influence.
