GUWAHATI, August 18: The Assam Congress on Wednesday dismissed claims by “certain sections” that the party has been weakened by the exit of “high-profile” leaders of late, while stating that such “false propaganda” has been spread only to demoralise the party workers in the state.
Addressing media persons at Rajiv Bhawan here for the first time after stepping down as Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president recently, Rajya Sabha MP, Ripun Bora said that the resignations of three “high profile” Congress leaders – All India Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev; four-time Mariani MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi and two-time Thowra MLA Sushanta Borgohain – would affect the party only for the time-being.
“However, the process of members quitting the party and leaders from other parties joining Congress, is rather routine,” Bora said.
The veteran Congressman pointed out that the ruling party has no reason to be thrilled with Congress leaders quitting the party and joining BJP, as the saffron party, despite forming governments at the Centre twice since 2014, has not been able to make a substantial presence at the all-India level.
“For instance, among the 28 states and eight Union Territories in the country, BJP has achieved a majority in just 11 states. Among them, it has formed governments through the backdoor in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, while in Manipur, which was earlier ruled by Congress, it indulged in horse trading of MLAs,” Bora claimed.
The Congress MP stated that even in the four states where the BJP is an ally in the government, the party has very few seats.
“In Meghalaya, BJP has just two out of the 60 Assembly seats, in Bihar it has only 53 out of the 243 seats, in Jammu and Kashmir it has 25 out of 87 seats while in Goa it has just 13 out of the 40 Assembly seats,” he said.
Bora further stated that out of 4139 Assembly seats in the country, BJP has just 1516 seats. “In other words, BJP does not have 66 percent of the Assembly seats in the country,” he said.
The former APCC chief further said that “with too many people jumping ship and joining the ruling party, the BJP boat could get overloaded with too many passengers and eventually lose control and sink.”