Assam veteran Rajen Gohain resigns from BJP, cites broken promises and policy failures

Dibrugarh: Four-term Member of Parliament and former Union Minister Rajen Gohain on Thursday resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ending a 34-year-long association with the party he joined in 1991.

A key BJP figure closely linked to the RSS, Gohain represented Nowgong Lok Sabha constituency from 1999 to 2019 and served as Minister of State for Railways in 2016.

Following his resignation, the 74-year-old veteran launched a sharp critique of the party and the state government, citing a series of “broken promises” to Assam’s indigenous communities.

“While talking about ethnicity and homeland, the BJP allowed outsiders to settle at the expense of the indigenous Assamese people's land and resources,” Gohain said, expressing deep disillusionment with the party’s policies.

He also criticized the handling of illegal immigration, a core issue in BJP’s electoral campaigns. “The government, which promised that after May 16, 2014, there would not be a single Bangladeshi in Assam, is continuously bringing in Bangladeshis through new tactics,” he alleged.

Another major point of contention for Gohain was the delay in granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six indigenous communities of Assam. He also voiced grievances regarding the party’s treatment of its grassroots workers.

“For not giving due respect to the lifelong dedicated workers who sacrificed their youth to advance the party, even after the government was formed,” he said.

Gohain further accused the state government of promoting nepotism and adopting policies that stifle local businesses.

“Imposing new rules that squeeze the livelihoods of local small businessmen while handing over opportunities to large outsider business groups is unacceptable,” he stated.

He concluded with a strong warning about the communal polarization under BJP’s governance: “The party is encouraging communal politics and dividing the centuries-old Assamese society,” he charged.

Gohain’s exit comes ahead of the Assam Assembly elections and is seen as a major blow to the BJP, as he was one of the principal architects of the party’s growth in the state. Sources indicate that growing dissatisfaction with party functioning and policy directions prompted his decision to part ways.