Bora quit the ACS in 1994 and joined the Congress to become the party’s candidate from Gohpur in 1996. Ganesh Kutum of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) won the seat and Bora attributed his defeat to Daniel Topno, a candidate of the All India Tiwari Congress, who had apparently sliced off some votes from the Congress vote base. Topno, an influential leader from the tea tribe community, contested as an AITC candidate only after the Congress denied him a ticket.

After the Tiwari Congress merged with the parent party, Topno once again emerged as a strong contender for the Congress ticket. It was then that the 40-year-old Topno was murdered by some unknown miscreants. Though Bora was the suspect, he obtained an anticipatory bail from the Gauhati High Court.

While the Assam Police could hardly make any headway in the case expect for arresting two local Congress members Bodheswar Das and Bakul Tamuli and declaring one Kanak Ali as the prime suspect, Topno’s brother Santosh moved the Gauhati High Court accusing the state police of not taking appropriate action and seeking a CBI probe into the murder.