Days after joining the Trinamool Congress, former Assam Congress stalwart Ripun Bora, on Thursday, said he had joined the party on condition that the name of the party would be “Assam Trinamool Congress”.
In an exclusive interview with THE WEEK—his first with any mews media after joining the TMC—he said, “The party would function in Assam as Assam Trinamool Congress, and it would be the main force against the BJP as the Congress failed to act as a formidable opposition party in Assam.”
Bora said he could not work in Assam as he was the prime target of many Congress leaders.
“I used to talk about movement, I used to talk about changes. But there were internal squabble in Assam Congress which I could not fathom anymore,” Bora told THE WEEK while on his way to Gangaram Hospital in Delhi for treatment.
When asked whether Gaurav Gogoi, considered to be close to Rahul Gandhi, was the person behind his exit from the Congress, Bora refused to comment. “No, it was not like that. Please don’t ask me to reveal all these at this crucial time.”
Bora’s statement clearly suggests that the Trinamool Congress might require support of the Congress to fight Himanta Biswa Sarma.
He claimed that Assam Congress leaders were in no mood to fight a man like Sarma who has “broken the unity of different groups irrespective of caste, creed and religion” in Assam.
The exit of Bora, a mass leader with a huge following, is indeed a big blow to the Congress as he was one of the longest-serving ministers in Tarun Gogoi’s government. After the fall of the government, Bora became member of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Bora had earlier opposed the alliance between the Congress and AIDUF of Badruddin Ajmal. When asked about it he said, “Let us not discuss those old issues.”
However, he praised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, calling him a “good man.” “I would say he is a very simple man. He is not complex like other leaders surrounding him. His lifestyle is very simple and he is particularly a good man. But he must understand that he alone could not usher in any big change in the country. He needs to work with others.”
Bora said in the coming days, he would bring Assam Trinamool Congress the main opposition party in Assam. The work for this has already began, he added.
