Bhupen Kumar Borah, Assam Congress Chief, on December 4 remarked that the reason for Congress losing the assembly elections in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh is due to “overconfidence”. Borah, acknowledged and praised the “fighting spirit of the BJP” in the three states and vocalised that the saffron party was “striving for victory even when all indications were pointing at the BJP’s defeat”. “The results of the assembly elections were a warning for us not to be too confident,” Borah informed the reporters at state party headquarters, Rajiv Bhavan, in Assam.
Upon further mention, he voiced that during his interaction with Congress leaders of the aforementioned states, there was no indication from them that the party could lose the assembly polls. “We have to give it to the BJP that they fought till the end even when they were told that they are losing. But we (Congress) thought that we had already won,” he said.
“It is a lesson for us in Assam also (not to be overconfident),” added Borah.
The BJP sweeped Madhya Pradesh, while it wrestled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from the Congress in the state assembly polls, the results of which were declared on December 3. Telangana was the only state where Congress could manage a victory.
Further, Borah maintained that the electoral results in these states would not have any bearing on the party’s fortunes in Assam. “The election issues are state-specific. In Assam, our main issues will be corruption and syndicate raj by the BJP-led regime here. Wherever we fought with corruption as the main agenda, like in Karnataka or Telangana, we emerged victorious,” he said.
Borah’s claim says that the central agencies such as CBI and ED, which the opposition accuses of working at the behest of the BJP-led NDA government, would align with the INDIA bloc as soon as they saw that the public opinion was in favour of the now opposition camp. “These agencies are being used to create problems for Congress leaders. But in 2024, as soon as the agencies see that INDIA bloc is gaining ground, they will shift allegiance towards us,” he added.
Despite the performance of Congress in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the state Congress Chief urged the party workers not to be disheartened by the poll results as the grand old party has had a long history of bouncing back.
Concluding his address on an affirmative note, he added, “Whether it’s victory or defeat in the elections, our ideological battle will continue.”
