Dispur:
Who will be the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee's (APCC) next president? It is a question that has been festering both within and outside of the Grand Old Party, which has faced electoral debacle one after another for the last seven years.
Since the party did not achieve the expected results in the recent Assam assembly elections under the leadership of MP Ripun Bora, party workers expect that their leadership would replace the State committee president.
The speculation in the party has grown as a result of the party workers' views. In the midst of mounting speculation over the future state committee's crucial portfolio bearer, its MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi has suggested that MP Prodyut Bordoloi or former MLA Bhupen Bora will be the party's next State Committee president. He did, however, say that former Minister Rockeybool Hossain had a good chance of becoming the next State APCC president.
"Prodyut Bordoloi or Bhupen Bora may become our State committee president. Rockeybool Hossain has also such chances. Hossain may get the selection in case Bordoloi or Bora will not receive the elevation," MLA Kurmi said to media.
Interestingly, he said that former minister Hossain has been working hard to maintain the party united and strong throughout this difficult period and that if he is promoted as the APCC president now, he will be the chief minister of Assam in 2026.
The incumbent BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regained power in the state with 75 seats, marking the first time in the state's history that a non-INC alliance has won consecutive terms. The Mahajot party, led by the INC, increased their seat count to 50 from 26 in 2016.
The Congress's Assam unit recently criticized Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for proposing that a minority community in the state pursue population control measures. However, the Assam Pradesh Congress lauded CM Himanta Biswa Sarma for his recent crackdown on drug peddlers and cow traffickers across the state after only one month in office.