Kabindra Purkayastha, the Patriarch of Assam BJP Passes Away at 94

Kabindra Purkayastha, one of the tallest leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a pioneer of right-wing politics in the Northeast, passed away on January 7, 2026, at Silchar Medical College and Hospital. He was declared dead at 05:06 PM by Silchar Medical College authorities. He was 94 at the time of his death. Despite prolonged medical care being in ventilation and the best efforts of expert doctors, the veteran leader breathed his last, marking the end of a remarkable era in Assam and Northeast politics. Purkayastha was present on the very day of the first adhiveshan of the BJP, where former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave a speech and asked Purkayastha to meet him after the meeting.

Fondly regarded as the Patriarch of Assam BJP, Purkayastha was among the founding figures who laid the ideological and organisational foundations of the party in the region. A witness to history, he was present in Mumbai in 1980 when the BJP was formally founded, and remained one of its most respected elders for decades thereafter. Even in his later years, when he was no longer active in day-to-day politics, senior BJP leaders and ministers continued to seek his counsel and wisdom.

Born on December 15, 1931, at Kamarkhal in the then Sylhet district (now in Bangladesh), Kabindra Purkayastha pursued higher education at Gauhati University, earning an M.A. and B.T. He began his professional life as a teacher and later became the principal of a higher secondary school. In the late 1970s, driven by ideology and public service, he left his academic career to join active politics.

His political journey was deeply rooted in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which he joined in 1951. Over the years, he held various organisational roles and played a crucial part in spreading the RSS ideology across the Northeast. When the BJP was formed in 1980, Purkayastha joined as one of its founder members in the region, becoming a key architect of the party’s gradual but decisive rise.

Kabindra Purkayastha was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991 from the Silchar Lok Sabha constituency. He was re-elected in 1998, and during this term served as Minister of State for Telecommunications in the government of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee from 1998 to 1999. In 2009, he returned to the Lok Sabha once again, defeating heavyweight opponents including Santosh Mohan Dev of the Congress and Badruddin Ajmal of the then AUDF—an electoral victory that underlined his enduring personal connect with the people of Barak Valley.

In recognition of his lifelong contribution to public life, Purkayastha was conferred an honorary doctorate by Assam University during its 21st convocation in September 2024, a rare honour that acknowledged his lasting legacy in Assam and national politics.

His political legacy continues through his family as well—his son Kanad Purkayastha became a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha in 2025.

Kabindra Purkayastha will be remembered not just as a former Union Minister or multiple-time Member of Parliament, but as the guiding force behind the rise of the BJP in the Northeast—a leader whose quiet determination, ideological clarity, and organisational skill shaped generations of politics in Assam and beyond.