New Delhi: Former Congress leader Ripun Bora on Tuesday claimed that he was congratulated by political strategist Prashant Kishor for joining the TMC. Kishor, who is currently working out a strategy for the Congress for upcoming elections and also its revival, is a political advisor of the TMC too. Addressing his first press conference after joining the TMC, Bora said that infighting in the Congress, with which he was associated for the past 40 years, was giving the BJP a free pass.
"In my resignation letter, I stated my reasons for leaving the Congress party. I had raised my grievances in Congress forums regularly, but nothing much was done. I believed Congress, being the grand old party, was well placed to take on the might of the ruling BJP, which is destroying all the institutions of this great nation. But instead of acting against the BJP, the Congress has been bickering with internal fights, which is allowing the BJP to have a free pass in Assam and the rest of the country," he said.
Also read: Former Assam Congress president Ripun Bora joins TMC
Bora unsuccessfully contested on a Congress ticket for a Rajya Sabha seat from the Assam, where despite having the requisite numbers, the party could not get him elected because of cross-voting. "Many of my friends and well-wishers called. Even Prashant Kishor spoke to me and congratulated me for making the move," he said when asked to name people who congratulated him on his move. TMC Rajya Sabha member and another former Congress leader Sushmita Dev said Bora is a veteran politician from Assam and a stalwart leader and alleged that during the recent Rajya Sabha, his party did not fight for him.
"In fact, after his losing out on the Rajya Sabha seat, there is not even one Congress leader from Rajya Sabha in the entire Northeast. Congress didn't even fight for the last man standing for a Rajya Sabha seat, they just let it go," she said. Dev, TMC spokesperson and the party's Tripura in-charge, said the TMC had a number of strategists who were working for the party and Kishor was one of them. "To comment on one of our strategists won't be fair," she stated. Kishor worked for the TMC for the assembly elections in West Bengal and Goa. Bora said he believes that the TMC is the only party that can take on the BJP. He, however, clarified that he had no differences with the Congress leadership - either party president Sonia Gandhi or former president Rahul Gandhi.
PTI
