'Over confidence' cost us Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh: Assam Congress chief

GUWAHATI: Assam Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah on Monday said that the grand old party lost the assembly elections in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh due to "over confidence". He praised the "fighting spirit of the BJP" in the three states and said 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 told reporters at state party headquarters Rajiv Bhavan here.

He said that during his interaction with Congress leaders of these 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 over confident)," Borah added.

The BJP retained Madhya Pradesh, while it wrestled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from the Congress in the state assembly polls, the results of which were declared on Sunday. Telengana was the only state where the grand old party emerged victorious.

He 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 claimed that 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 see that 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.

The state Congress chief urged the party workers not to be disheartened by the poll results as the grand old party has a long history of bouncing back.

"Whether it's victory or defeat in the elections, our ideological battle will continue," he added.