Many in Assam BJP unhappy with CM Sarma, says Gaurav Gogoi

Guwahati, Aug 9 (PTI) Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi on Friday claimed many BJP workers in Assam were unhappy with the way Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was running the party and the state.

Gogoi made the remark after former BJP MLA Ashok Sarma joined the Congress with hundreds of his supporters in Nalbari.

The Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha said just like people of his Jorhat Lok Sabha constituency "stood up for their self respect" in the general elections, the people of Nalbari would teach the BJP a lesson in the 2026 assembly elections.

"Today in Nalbari, I was present for the function where former MLA and BJP leader Shri Ashok Sarma joined the Congress party. Like him, there are many within the Assam BJP who are unhappy with the way Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is running the affairs of the party and the state," he said in a post on X.

"The self respect and dignity of the people of Nalbari was hurt when Shri Sarma was repeatedly taunted and insulted by those close to the chief minister," Gogoi further said.

Sarma resigned from the primary membership of the BJP on August 2 and also quit as chairman of the Assam Plantation Crops Development Corporation Limited, a state PSU, after expressing dissatisfaction over the functioning of party leaders for several months.

He was an MLA from 2016 to 2021 and had close links with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

His difference with the party leadership began after being denied a ticket in the 2021 assembly polls when the BJP fielded former Congress leader Jayanta Malla Baruah, a close aide of the chief minister.

Baruah is now a minister in the Assam government. PTI ACB SZM