Assam: Borah to announce his final decision on resignation from Congress by Tuesday night
Guwahati (PTI): Former Assam Congress chief Bhupen Borah, who has tendered his resignation from the party, said he would announce by Tuesday night his final decision on whether or not he would withdraw it, as asked by the central leadership.
Speaking to reporters this morning, Borah said there are many issues he would like to discuss with his well-wishers, close associates and people of Lakhimpur district, from where he hails, before taking a final decision.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who had on Monday said the doors of the BJP were open for Borah and promised to "get him elected from a safe assembly seat" if he joined the saffron party, is likely to visit his residence in the evening.
Borah launched an attack on a section of the Congress leaders without taking their names, saying he was prepared to stay in the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) but not in "APCC (R)", in an apparent reference to the party's Dhubri MP Rakibul Hussain.
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"I have also made this clear in my resignation letter to the high command," he added.
Hussain, however, did not react to this but said that Borah may have certain grievances but senior party leaders are talking to him and the matter will be resolved soon.
Borah alleged that his name was suggested by several senior leaders as the party candidate for the by-election to the Samaguri assembly constituency, but he was denied the ticket.
By-elections to Samaguri assembly constituency, which was held by Hussain, was necessitated following his election from the Dhubri Lok Sabha seat; and the party ticket was given to his son Tanzil Hussain, who lost the polls to BJP's Diplu Ranjan Sarmah.
"In the 2021 assembly polls, several prominent Congress leaders had opposed the alliance with the AIUDF and I had written several times to the party high command regarding this. After the elections, the alliance was withdrawn and in the last Lok Sabha polls and Hussain was the biggest beneficiary, winning the seat by a record margin by defeating AIUDF leader Badruddin Ajmal," Borah claimed.
He claimed that the Assam Congress was now divided into two camps -- APCC and APCC(R) -- and "many leaders want to remain in the Congress but not in APCC (R)".
Borah, in a late night interaction with reporters on Monday, said he submitted his resignation after 32 years in the party and needs time to reconsider his decision.
"The resignation letter has been sent, but the central leadership has said it will not accept it," Borah said, adding, "I cannot give directions to the central leadership, but I have asked for time to think about it''.
"Many senior leaders and colleagues have asked me to consider all aspects, but nobody has said that I did anything wrong by sending the resignation letter," he said.
Responding to the CM's statement that he would visit Borah's residence, he said, "If any CM wants to visit my home, it is a matter of pride for me."
Borah also drew a parallel with Sarma's own political journey.
"Even Sarma was forced to leave the Congress as he was not made the CM despite having the support of 58 MLAs. Is this internal democracy? How long will this kind of politics continue? Somebody has to raise their voice, and I have done so," he said.
Borah resigned on Monday, triggering a political storm in the state, where assembly elections are due in a couple of months, with AICC state in-charge Jitendra Singh claiming that Borah has withdrawn his resignation after party president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi spoke to him, but the Congress leader asserted that he has sought time from the high command to reconsider his decision.
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5.8 magnitude quake hits Afghanistan killing 8
Kabul (AP): An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.8 rattled parts of northern and eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan late Friday, killing at least eight people in Afghanistan, authorities said.
The region is highly seismically active, and quakes have caused thousands of deaths in recent years. Friday's earthquake had an epicentre in the Hindu Kush mountain range, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) east of the Afghan city of Kunduz, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center and the US Geological Survey.
Hafizullah Basharat, a spokesman for the Kabul governor, said eight people were killed and a child was injured when a house collapsed on the outskirts of the capital. He said all were members of the same family.
Kabul is roughly 290 kilometres (180 miles) southwest of the epicentre. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries from areas closer to the epicentre. The area is remote, and it can often take several hours before local authorities can relay information back to Kabul.
With the epicentre at a depth of over 180 kilometers, the quake jolted a wide swath of Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Pakistan, it was felt in the cities and towns of Islamabad, Peshawar, Chitral, Swat and Shangla, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries in Pakistan.
Afghanistan's Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman said Kabul and provincial health authorities had been put on alert.
Last August, a 6.0 earthquake that struck a remote, mountainous part of eastern Afghanistan killed more than 2,200 people, levelling villages and trapping people under rubble. Most casualties were in Kunar province, where people typically live in wood and mud-brick houses along steep valleys.
In November, a 6.3 earthquake struck Samangan province in northern Afghanistan, killing at last 27 people and injuring more than 950. It also damaged historical sites, including Afghanistan's famed Blue Mosque in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, and the Bagh-e-Jahan Nama Palace in Khulm.
On Oct 7, 2023, a 6.3 quake followed by strong aftershocks in western Afghanistan killed thousands of people.
Impoverished Afghanistan often faces difficulty in responding to natural disasters, especially in remote regions. Many homes in rural and outlying areas are made from mud bricks and wood, with many poorly built.
M5.9 earthquake strikes Afghanistan-Tajikistan border region in Badakhshan. Widely reported at 08:42 pm, depth 171 km. No immediate casualty or damage reports from Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, India or nearby areas. #sismo pic.twitter.com/Lhddad9Uwr
— GeoTechWar (@geotechwar) April 3, 2026
