He was the general secretary of
All Assam Students Union during 1979-85 and jointly spearheaded the Assam Movement In 1985 after the conclusion of the Assam movement with the signing of the historic Assam Accord, peace was restored in the state, and Phukan along with others founded the
Asom Gana Parishad. The two factions united three years later and Phukan was appointed executive president of the Asom Gana Parishad. He quit the Asom Gana Parishad again in 1996 following differences with Mahanta and joined another political party. In 2001, Phukan lost as a
Nationalist Congress Party candidate to
Himanta Biswa Sarma of the Congress, a student leader whom he had earlier groomed and who joined the BJP in 2015. Phukan again returned to the Asom Gana Parishad in 2004 and contested the
Lok Sabha (parliament) elections from
Guwahati constituency but lost. ==Personal life ==