Rahul Gandhi’s future is ‘dark’ while that of his followers is ‘darker,’ Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, a regular baiter of the ex-Congress chief, said on Monday.

By 2026, when Assam will have its next assembly elections, the Congress would ‘cease to exist’ in the state, Sarma, a former Congressman, added.

“Voting for the Congress means voting for Rahul Gandhi; voting for the BJP means voting for (prime minister) Narendra Modi. Those who love Narendra Modi and believe that India will become a ‘Vishwaguru’ (global leader) will vote for the BJP in this (Lok Sabha) election. Those who believe in Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, know that their future is dark. His future is also dark, but his followers’ is darker,” Sarma, who became a BJP leader in September 2015 and its Assam CM in May 2021, remarked.

He then elaborated why, according to him, the grand old party would get restricted to ‘some small pockets’ in the northeastern state.

“In the last one-and-a-half months, you have seen a big ‘erosion’…many Congress members and workers joined the BJP and AGP (Asom Gana Parishad). I believe that there will be no more of the Congress party in Assam by 2026, except for a few small pockets,” the politician, 55, stated.

“Many of their good leaders will continue to join us till the Lok Sabha election. This process will be continued after the polls,” he further claimed.

Along with its allies, the saffron party currently hold 18 out of the northeast’s 25 parliamentary seats, including 11 out of 14 in Assam. In the upcoming general elections, the state will vote on April 19, 26, and May 7, the first three legs of the seven-phase polling.