Just days after quitting Congress and joining Trinamool Congress (TMC), former Rajya Sabha MP from Assam – Ripun Bora has said the grand old party does not have the calibre to take on the might of the BJP.
Briefing the media in New Delhi, Ripun Bora said that the Assam unit of the Congress party has been a witness to infighting amongst its senior leaders leading to the growth of the BJP in the state.
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“There has been lot of infighting amongst the senior Congress leaders in Assam, owing to which people in the state have lost faith in the grand old party leading to the rise of the BJP,” Ripun Bora said.
Bora added that infighting amongst the senior leaders of the party would ensure that the “Congress will not be able to fight the BJP in coming days”.
Also read: Ripun Bora sank Assam Congress, now its time for TMC: Shiladitya Dev
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The former Assam Congress president and now a member of the TMC – Ripun Bora further accused the BJP of destroying the social fabric, democracy and constitution of India.
“After BJP came to power in 2014, the saffron party has been growing. The social fabric, democracy and constitution of India are under threat,” Ripun Bora said.
He added: “To prevent the rise of BJP, I hoped that the Congress party will be able to take on BJP, but infighting continued in Congress amongst the senior leaders to fulfil their own vested interests.”
“BJP has since been getting a one-way traffic,” Ripun Bora said.
Ripun Bora resigned from Congress on Sunday and joined the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee-led TMC.
Bora’s decision to jump ships followed his recent defeat in the Rajya Sabha elections, which he attributed to the ‘betrayal’ by a lobby within the Assam Congress.
Ripun Bora has alleged that instead of fighting the BJP, a section of senior Assam Congress leaders has been maintaining a “secret understanding with BJP government mainly with the chief canister”.
Responding to the allegation, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said: “It is a fact that almost all Congress leaders of Assam are close to me, that includes Ripun Bora. I spent a good 22 years of my life in Congress. There are many who want to join BJP and walk with us but you have to create space for them also.”
Ripun Bora is the second of the two top Assam Congress leaders to have joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Earlier, former All India Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev had quit the Congress party and joined the TMC.