The Trinamool issued a press release on Saturday stating, “We are pleased to share that our Hon’ble Chairperson Smt Mamata Banerjee has appointed Shri Ripun Bora (Ex-MP, Rajya Sabha) as the State President of the Assam unit.”
Digital Desk: Ripun Bora, former Assam state Congress chief who recently switched over to the Trinamool Congress, was appointed the party's president in the northeastern state on Saturday.
The Trinamool issued a press release on Saturday stating, “We are pleased to share that our Hon’ble Chairperson Smt
Mamata Banerjee has appointed Shri Ripun Bora (Ex-MP, Rajya Sabha) as the State President of the Assam unit.”
Abhishek Banerjee, the party's national general secretary, had tweeted shortly after welcoming the former Congress leader into the TMC fold, “Extending a very warm welcome to Ripun Bora, a stalwart and skilled politician. We are pleased to have him onboard.”
The foray into Goa may not have gone as planned, but the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is pressing ahead with its expansion plans in states other than West Bengal. Following Tripura, Goa, and Meghalaya, Mamata Banerjee's party has increased its efforts to gain a foothold in the BJP-ruled state of Assam. Not so much for electoral victories as of yet, but to gain ground at the expense of the Congress, which has been out of power in the state since 2016.
The Congress is no match for the BJP, whose government is led by Himanta Biswa Sarma, widely regarded as the chief architect of the saffron party's expansion in the Northeast over the years. The TMC believes Assam lacks a strong opposition, and its ambitious leadership intends to fill that void. To bolster its ranks, the TMC is relying on its tried-and-true strategy of poaching Congress leaders, as it did in Tripura. Sushmita Dev, a prominent face of the Congress in the state and president of the All India Mahila Congress, was its first big catch in Assam. She joined the TMC a year ago and is now serves as the party's Rajya Sabha representative. Sushmita is the late Congress leader Santosh Mohan Dev's daughter.
On April 17, the TMC added another heavyweight to its ranks: Ripun Bora, a former Assam cabinet minister and Assam Congress chief. Bora had been irritated by his defeat in the Rajya Sabha elections in March due to alleged cross-voting by members of his party or its ally AIUDF (All India United Democratic Front). Bora, in resigning, stated that he had repeatedly warned Congress leadership about infighting within the state unit.
Ripun's future in the Congress may have been sealed even though the TMC was ready to welcome him with a plum position. Given how generous the party has been to defectors in the past, a Rajya Sabha seat was not ruled out. So, what does Bora's addition mean for the TMC? Whether he can add value to the party in the near future will be determined by whether and how he can persuade other Congress leaders to join forces with Mamata or transfer his support base to the TMC. He also stated that he believes the Congress is incapable of defeating the BJP.
Ripun Bora as the new president of TMC of Assam however would fail to have an impact in shaping the future of TMC in Assam. The question of the hour is, will he be able to regain his power by switching to a new party or did he join the party only for his own benefit?
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