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Mamata most suited to lead 2024 Oppn front, says Ripun Bora who quit Congress
Ripun Bora said he quit the Congress because he was convinced that it could not defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party
NEW DELHI: Ripun Bora, the former Assam Congress chief who joined Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) this week, on Tuesday said he switched parties after he became convinced that the Congress cannot defeat Bharatiya Janata Party.
“From an ideological point, if I stay with Congress, I can do nothing. All my work, calibre, and efforts would be wasted. Therefore, I have decided that I should join a party that protects our Constitution, a party that can stop the BJP. That is TMC for me and therefore I decided to join TMC, Bora said.
“The BJP is a threat to the Constitution, democracy, and moreover to our country’s economy. I had hoped Congress can prevent this. But unfortunately, instead of fighting BJP, there is infighting in Congress in all states at every level,” he added.
The freshly-minted TMC leader also insisted that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee was best suited to lead the opposition front in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Bora said that he will work to build a base for TMC in Assam as the party is in its initial stages in the state.
“Our name in Assam would be Assam Trinamool Congress. Assam has a lot of diverse religions, castes, communities, races, and cultures. BJP has divided all. We will bring everyone together and fight to protect their interests,” he added.
Asked who all congratulated him on joining TMC, Bora said political strategist Prashant Kishore was one of the many people who congratulated him. Kishor is just a step away from working with and possibly joining the Congress Party on the 2024 general elections campaign.
In his resignation letter, Bora, who has been associated with the Congress since 1976, pointed out the infighting within the party which, he claimed, had “demoralised” party workers and paved the way for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to grow. Bora also alleged that some state Congress leaders “have been maintaining secret understanding with the BJP government, mainly with the chief minister (Himanta Biswa Sarma).”
Bora was the president of the state Congress during last year’s polls when the party tied up with nine other parties in an unsuccessful bid to wrest power from the BJP. The Congress managed to win just 29 of 126 seats.
