In a span of just two weeks, the Assam Congress has seen two of its three working presidents – Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha and Rana Goswami – and one of its MLAs, Basanta Das, jump ship. While Das and Purkayastha declared their support to the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led BJP government, Goswami formally joined the BJP. CM Sarma has claimed that all the Congress MLAs barring a few Muslim legislators have been in touch with him and would join the BJP before the 2026 Assembly elections. With the pressure piling on the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Assam Congress president Bhupen Borah spoke to The Indian Express at length about the situation and his party’s plans to deal with it. Excerpts: